Rites of Passage of Time
by abs812
Summary: The sisters believe that killing Gideon meant saving Wyatt from turning evil but did it really? How did Chris's and Chloe's visit to the past effect the future? Will the Charmed Ones need to go to the future to set things straight? Ch 8 up, pls r
1. Incommunicado

_I had some writer's block getting this story started, but I think I've found a way! I am using some motivation/ideas from this season, but I am acknowledging that—I do not own them! I feel I need to be true to what the real writers of the show have thus far incorporated while still writing my own story and interpretation of what could have been. I hope you enjoy this as much as Sins of the Fathers. As always, thanks for the feedback, ideas on the story, and encouragement. If it wasn't for the readers, I would have no inspiration to write. Be good and have fun reading! Abs_

A faint blue smoke filled the room and wafted toward the chandelier hanging over the five heads at the points of a pentagram. Each member was wearing a different colored robe—ruby, amethyst, emerald, sapphire, and gold. The members of the group had one arm crossed over the other, with each right hand bearing a ring with a jewel matching their robe. The chorus of voices echoed through the room in unintelligible words as the smoke color changed from blue to red to purple to white. The members released their hands sequentially starting with the ruby robe and moving counterclockwise ending with the gold.   
"Do you think it worked?" an Irish-accented female voice whispered from beneath the amethyst hood.   
"Shh," the female ruby wearer quieted her, "we cannot be caught."   
"You cannot be caught," a male voice rose from the gold cape.   
"Then we'll meet back here at midnight in thirteen days. Does everyone have a way out?" another male voice came from the emerald cape. There was a collective nod. "Good."   
"Is it safe?" a distinctive British male voice from the sapphire cloak mumbled.   
"We won't know until we try," the member in gold orbed out.   
"He made it, come on," the lady in red took the amethyst by the hand before blurring from sight. The remaining two shook hands before respectively leaving—vaporizing and blinking out.

-----

"Oh, honey, you can orb and have telekinesis. Why not help mommy out and get whatever you need into this room? Or us to it?" Piper walked her bedroom bouncing a crying baby Chris on her shoulder trying, and failing, to calm him. "Hello! I need a little help in here!" she called out the door in vain to some member of her family. "Shh, I'm going to get some of your medicine," she quieted as she placed him on the bed before leaving the room, "Wyatt, watch your brother. I'll be right back—no orbing," she ran out of the room as Chris's fit intensified.   
Piper rushed into the kitchen and headed straight for the refrigerator, "Fridge," she flung the door open, "and the medicine should be right," her mouth fell open as she realized the medication she needed was no longer in the door. "Here?" her panic increased.   
Paige walked into the door carrying a grocery bag, "Auntie Paige to the rescue," she handed the bag to Piper, "I saw you were out of Chris's tummy medicine, so I took the bottle and went to pick some up."   
"You're an angel!" Piper grabbed the bag and headed back to the foyer.   
"Well, half anyway," Paige smiled following her big sister up the stairs.   
"He has been fussing all morning, and I," Piper paused, "Do you hear that?"   
Paige stopped in the entry way to the foyer, "No, I don't hear anything."   
Piper's lips pursed together as she bolted up the stairs, "Wyatt!" she called.   
Paige followed her into her bedroom. Wyatt was sitting calmly on the bed, flipping through a book, "Book," he held it up to his mom and aunt as they entered the room, "Peas."   
"Wyatt Matthew Halliwell, where is your little brother?" Piper scolded. Wyatt frowned and crawled off the bed. "I was talking to you," Piper followed him back into his room, "Wyatt, where did you orb your baby brother to?"   
"Home," Wyatt responded orbing into the baby bed, "Baby."   
Piper lowered her head with her hands still on her hips. Chris was only four months old and Wyatt had already orbed him to his grandfather's, elder land, magic school, and the front steps to be discovered by the mailman no less. She feared the next place she would find her infant son would be the police station with a lot of explaining to do. Suddenly, there was a twinkling of orbs and once again the furious screams of a colicky baby began to fill the room.   
"I found Chris, or he found me. I'm not sure which it was," Leo announced picking up the bag of medicine and handing Chris back to Piper. He measured out the proper dose of medication before handing it to her.   
Paige started to giggle from the doorway, but met furious looks from Piper and Leo, "What? It's funny."   
"It's not going to be funny when he ends up in some public place in a swirl of blue lights and the department of children services is called on an abandoned magical baby. And we thought the cleaners were problems before," Piper handed Chris back to Leo—who was now beginning to calm down and drift into a nap.   
She turned back to Wyatt and opened a small wooden box on the floor. Inside was a single pink quartz. "Wyatt, I hate to do this to you. I do. But you have got to be punished and you have got to learn that orbing your baby brother all over creation is wrong. Bad bad," she shook her finger at him, "and since we can't trust you to stay in time out without orbing away," she placed the pink quartz in the doorway, "I've got to lock you in magically," she finished as the other four crystals in the corners of the room glowed pink and created a pink force field around the room.   
Leo shook his head no, rocking back and forth with Chris, "Sorry, bud. Mama's orders. Time out is for big boys when they've been bad, and you've been bad." Wyatt turned his back on his father and sat facing the wall on his sit and spin. "He turned his back on me," he said as he followed Piper and Paige back out of the room, "I hope that's not foreshadowing anything."   
"Try not to read too much into it, Leo," Paige rolled her eyes, "he's two. They do that. I must say," she picked an apple out of the bowl in the kitchen, "that I think that quartz time out shield is genius."   
Leo sat down in the rocking chair in the conservatory and rocked Chris, smiling down at his newest son. "Well," he glanced up at Paige and Piper, who was preparing lunch, "It was something I picked up from Penny."   
"Grams?" Piper smiled at him in awe, "What do you mean?"   
Leo laughed, "Because of Patty's pact with Nicholas, your powers weren't bound until after Phoebe was born. So, your grandmother had to have someway to keep you from using your powers while you were being punished, just like we do with Wyatt."   
Paige crunched her apple, "You summoned Grams to ask her how to put Wyatt into timeout?" she took another bite.   
Leo blushed, "No, I saw Grams put Piper and Prue into timeout," he looked down at Chris to avoid Piper's and Paige's amazed looks. "What? You saw me at the magical be-in? You know I've known you since you were little."   
Piper finished putting the mayo on her sandwich before commenting, "Well, sweetie, pardon me for being a little weirded out. Afterall, that means you've been watching me since I was a baby—and you still married and made two little boys with me."   
"I've had a long time to fall in love with you," he beamed.   
Paige tossed her apple core in the sink as she picked up the morning edition of the Bay Mirror. Instinctively she flipped to the advice column and read what Phoebe had written to Bashful in Berkley. Ever since Cole had left, Phoebe's columns had been her refuge. She was hardly ever home, the length of the columns was increasing, as were their number. Instead of doing one letter a day, Phoebe had taken to two, and three on Sunday. The topics also were more geared around lost loves, and meeting new people, how to rekindle with the old, and what to do if it didn't work out. Bashful seemed to be having the problem of not being able to "connect" with that bold blue eyed stranger across the cubicle. "Gag me," Paige dropped the paper back on the table and walked to the pantry. "Anybody else notice how syrupy Phoebe's columns have been since Cole's journey of self-discovery began? 'Never stop hoping that Mr. Right will walk back into your life—or walk into your life from the cubicle across the room. It only takes a moment for the sparks to ignite and your love to be on fire'," Paige babbled in a high pitched voice as she dipped her finger into the jar of peanut butter she had grabbed out of the pantry, "Phoebe can write so much better than that. It sounds like something out of a trashy romance novel," she concluded sticking the peanut butter laden finger in her mouth. "And in her case, Mr. Right may be conjured right back into her life so she better be careful what she wishes for."   
"She's not the only member of this family who is mellow-dramatic," Piper rolled her eyes and Paige stuck out her tongue, "She'll find her voice again. She always does," Piper sat down to her well-deserved lunch as the baby monitor orbed onto the table in front of her and she heard Wyatt's baby voice saying, "Mommy? I done. Mommy?" Piper closed her eyes as she crunched into her sandwich.   
Leo laid Chris in his bassinet and kissed Piper on the cheek, "I got him."   
"And just think, Grams had three of you," Paige added with a wink, still eating the peanut butter straight from the jar.

-----

Phoebe sat behind her desk flipping through a stack of letters. The topics ranged from the banal talk of crushes to the serious exposé of extramarital affairs. Phoebe had found it increasingly difficult to focus on her work. She knew that it appeared to her sisters that her work was her only focus—however, while at work, she could think of nothing but Cole. She didn't know where he was or what he was doing. She knew that his resurrection and subsequent rekindling of their romance was a whirlwind, but it happened all the same. Both she and Cole had agreed to part ways, that it was necessary for them—to figure out where the two years of their separation had taken them. But Phoebe couldn't forget the look in his eyes when he kissed her, or the electricity that surged through her body when his hand grazed hers. The memories were almost more unbearable than the separation. Even the smallest things brought memories racing back—like the smell of coffee and cinnamon on the breeze, or larger still, the pictures of beaches in southern France that graced the cover of the travel magazine on the table in the lobby.   
"Phoebe," Elise sighed as she walked into her office and dropped a copy of the most recent _Ask Phoebe_ on her desk before sitting on the sofa across from her number one go-to girl, "have you read your article for today?"   
Phoebe rolled her eyes, she felt like of all the people who should be glad she was dedicating herself 110 to her work, it should be Elise. "Of course I have," Phoebe picked up the copy and began reading. It didn't take her long to find out the reason why Elise was staring at her with her muscle under her eye twitching and her foot bouncing at least one hundred times a minute, "I've used Cole's name in here every time I should have been referring to Sam in Sausalito," Phoebe lowered her eyes in embarrassment.   
Elise walked around the corner of Phoebe's desk and took Phoebe's hand in hers. "You need a break, Phoebe. Think about it," she squeezed her, "but before you decide to take off, please go back through and correct the names in the article, ok?"   
"Right," Phoebe sheepishly grinned.

-----

"Leo, thanks for coming," Paige stood up from behind her desk to speak to her brother-in-law, "Everything ok at home?"   
"Wyatt is just orbing Chris out of the house again. It's just this time the little guy found me—fortunately," he sighed.   
"I know,I was there," Paige rolled her eyes.   
"Oh yeah," Leo gave her a sheepish grin.   
"Only child?" Paige questioned leaning back against the desk.   
"Yes, why?" Leo scrunched his brow.   
"You won't understand sibling rivalry," Paige teased.   
Leo chuckled, "That's what you think. I have lived with three sisters for the past seven years," he finished with a wink. "But that's not why you brought me here, head mistress. How can I help you?"   
Paige's expression fell as she turned around and lifted the gold leafed envelope from her desk. "One of the other elders was in earlier to check on the progress of the school... or to check on me, however you want to look at it. Anyway, he dropped of this for you," she handed Leo the envelope with his name engraved on the front. "It seemed pretty important, so I thought I should get it to you pretty fast."   
"Thanks," Leo turned his back to Paige and slowly opened the envelope. He felt his heart begin to pound in his chest, and he had the sudden feeling of detachment from his body. His mouth watered and lights began to flash in front of his eyes as he sunk onto the couch in Paige's office.   
"Leo?" Paige rushed to his side. Leo leaned over and put his head in his lap. "Water," Paige called as a pitcher of water and a cup from the shelves behind her desk orbed to the coffee table. "Here," she poured him a glass and handed it to him.   
Leo drank two full glasses before leaning his head against the back of the sofa, still with his eyes closed and his chest heaving with anxious respirations. As his breathing slowed he finally opened his eyes to a worried sister-in-law. "Panic attack," he eased her fears, "haven't had one of those since the war," he sat up slowly and handed Paige the letter.   
Her eyes widened as she read what was written, "This can't be for real," she jumped up in anger. "It wasn't murder, it was self-preservation! Self-defense! And the bastard was trying to steal your family! What the hell?!" she turned her anger toward the ceiling in hopes that the elders were listening.   
"Elders aren't supposed to kill. We are supposed to be setting the example for all things good. And killing another elder...is...a very serious offense," Leo took another long sip of water.   
Paige heaved a heavy sigh before collecting herself and taking a seat next to Leo and reading from the letter, "Leo, this letter is to inform you that a tribunal will be convened in precisely twelve days to determine your fate for the action of killing another elder. It will be considered at that time whether your soul will be relinquished and freed. You will be given the opportunity to defend yourself to lessen your sentence. Please be prepared. The tribunal will convene precisely at noon twelve days hence and will be comprised of your peers. We apologize that it has come to this," Paige dropped the paper on the floor, "That is bull shit, Leo. Relinquish your soul? Isn't it yours? I mean..." she began to pace.   
"I know, why do you think I had a panic attack, Paige," Leo rested his head back in his lap. "It's not just that... it's what it would mean for Wyatt and Chris."   
"Tell me about it," Paige rolled her eyes, "Big Chris was concerned about not growing up with you around the first time, how is he going to handle this?"   
Leo lifted his head, revealing an even more pallid face than before, "No, that's not it. If my soul is relinquished, I cease to exist, my powers cease to exist...Chris and Wyatt could cease to exist because they are part of me."   
The gravity of Leo's words knocked Paige back as she fell on her desktop, "Leo, my dad died, I'm here."   
"No, your dad cut his wings before he died. And he chose to move on. If my soul is freed, it will move on whether I am ready or not. It has the potential to change history both past and present," Leo swallowed.   
"Yikes," Paige picked the letter up off the floor as her heart skipped a beat for her family.


	2. Crimes

_I hope you are enjoying the story! Please R&R! Feedback is greatly appreciated so that I can know if I'm taking the story in the right direction. I do appreciate your input! Abs_

-----

"What are you doing here?" Chris sat down on the rock face next to Chloe, "And why didn't you bring a coat?" he slipped his arm out of his jacket and put it around his cousin.

Chloe didn't make eye contact with him—she simply kept staring at the sunset. The sun had made it to a point where it was just touching the clouds on the horizon sending pink, gold, and orange rays bouncing through the atmosphere. She sighed, "Now that is true magic."

Chris examined Chloe with a scrutinizing eye before facing the sunset. He, too, fell mesmerized in its beauty. It had been years since the skies in San Francisco had been clear enough to see the sunset, much less from such a vantage point. "You know how to pick places to watch this, Clo, that much I can give you."

"So, you think that the Rockies top the Golden Gate Bridge?" she chuckled, "and you asked me what I was doing here."

She couldn't shake the events of the past five days. Insurgences had filled the streets of major cities. Chloe had been drawn to fight covertly on one side, and exposed on the other. She had seen friends she loved lost to both—and the memories were overwhelming. There was no longer a line between the mortal world and the magical world—that had been crossed years ago. Gangs and violence could have been metaphorically attributed to demons in the past, but in the present the gangs were headed by demons—demons that looked like humans, but also demons with fangs and claws. The storybook land of fairies, witches, warlocks, wizards, and demons no longer lived on the shelves in the libraries or children's dreams, but were fully embodied and walking streets around the globe at the hands of the Kakó.

"You aren't afraid of being missed I assume?" Chris felt he had to break the silence. She didn't answer. He knew that if Chloe did not confront what she was feeling she was not only risking their cause, but her life. "Chloe, none of what has happened has been your fault." He could distinctively see the tears begin to form in her eyes. "I mean it. Nathan knew what he was doing when he confronted Calisto. You couldn't have changed that."

"Oh yeah," she stood up in defiance, knocking his coat off her shoulders, "if someone had told me what was going on—I might have been able to advise that someone that it was an absolutely asinine idea! I am on the inside for a reason, Chris!" she stormed away.

"Don't get like that with me," Chris followed her back toward the woods as the sun made its last appearance for the day, "We couldn't tell you," Chloe turned to face him and looked him straight in the eye. Chris stopped, looked down at his feet, then returned her gaze with a softer tone, "I couldn't tell you. It would have put you at too great a risk. If someone had read you…"

Chloe began to shake her head, "Chris," she paused, "I know the risks. I also know that no one can read me." Chris began to open his mouth but Chloe wouldn't let him speak, "Not even Wyatt. I know that. He has had the opportunity to and hasn't. Telepathy is my power, remember?" she winked. Chris turned away and began to walk back toward the horizon, "I have been undercover since I was sixteen," she called after him, "I know what I'm doing." Suddenly an energy ball erupted from a bush to Chris's left, "NO!" Chloe shouted and quickly shimmered out.

Chris turned to face his attacker as the energy ball was inches from his face. He waved his hand as it burst into a nearby tree. In front of Chris stood three brute demons, "You boys don't know what you're doing. You are messing with the wrong person," a sadistic smile curled on his lips.

"Person? You're a witch. That's all we need to know," brute one growled.

"True, but that and so much more," he flipped his wrists as the arms of one of the demons exploded causing him to fall to the ground with a scream, "I warned you."

A leg spun through the air and connected with the middle brute's temple and jaw with a crunch. His neighbor turned on Chloe with a swinging fist but was sent flying into a rock before he could hit her. She smiled at Chris before kicking the first in the nose, "Finish him, I got this one."

Chris reached down to pull an athame from his ankle holster and flung it with expert precision into the thug against the rock. He melted into a pile of slime before going up in flames. He then turned to no-arms and flipped both his wrists causing the brute to shatter into pieces. Chris looked over his shoulder to see how Chloe was faring, "She can definitely hold her own." Chloe had the demon on the ground, obvious broken jaw and blood in his ears. Chris had the feeling Chloe was now simply using him as a punching bag, "Chloe, that's enough," he cautioned taking a few steps towards her as the demon lay motionless on the ground. She looked over her shoulder at him before she ended the demons misery with a fireball of her own.

Chloe fell to the ground sobbing. She put her hands on the scorch mark and saw the demon, three days before, attacking people in Atlanta. She lowered her forehead to her hands and continued to cry. Chris knelt down beside her and pulled her close to him, "I miss him, too."

"This can't be the way the world is supposed to be. Chaos everywhere, fighting. This demon killed so many people in Atlanta three days ago. And we thought things were bad in San Francisco!"

"They're bad everywhere," Chris sat back against a rock. "Wyatt is out of control."

Chloe sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve, and nursed the gash across her cheek with the other, "The Kakó is out of control," she sniffled.

"Same difference," Chris rolled his eyes.

"Not really," Chloe stood up, "I work with Wyatt."

"As part of the Kakó."

"Right, so I know the difference," Chloe corrected.

"Whatever," Chris closed his eyes.

"Whatever," Chloe mocked, "You know I'm right, you just won't admit it."

"Be quiet," Chris held up his hand. He heard crying and he heard his name, "Come on," he jumped up quickly, grabbed Chloe by the shoulders, and orbed away before she could protest.

-----

Piper dropped the letter on the floor and called for Phoebe. She couldn't believe what she had just read. "Piper, honey, what's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost… have you seen a ghost? We do not have time for a ghost," Phoebe complained rocking back and forth with Chris on her shoulder and holding Wyatt's hand.

"Babies, give me my babies," Piper held her hands out to Phoebe.

"Here you go, what's up with you?" Phoebe saw the letter on the floor. She handed Chris to Piper as Wyatt crawled up into the chair with her. As Piper pulled her children closer, Phoebe leaned over to pick up the letter. Immediately she was pulled into a vision of Leo standing before a crowd of elders. All the elders were wearing their golden dress robes and Leo was standing before them. The room was eerily quiet and Phoebe had the distinctive impression that something unexpected was getting ready to happen. At that moment, Phoebe witnessed Leo erupt in a haze of orb light. She gasped and found herself kneeling in the floor. "What is this?"

"What did you see?" Piper held a sleeping Chris on her shoulder and ran her fingers through Wyatt's curls.

"What is this?" Phoebe repeated.

"Read it," Piper pointed.

Her eyes skimmed through the letter until the enormity of it knocked Phoebe back against the sofa. "This can't be for real," she mumbled to herself, "Leo! Paige! Where are you?"

At that moment Leo and Paige orbed into the parlor with the rest of the family, "We couldn't find anything at the school's library," Paige announced.

"And we talked to a professor who happens to also be a lawyer, but that didn't do a lot of good. I am going to have to defend myself," Leo walked to Piper and kissed her sweetly on the lips. "No worries, nothing is going to happen. My actions were completely merited."

Phoebe sat quietly in the floor with the gold crested letter in her hand. She couldn't make eye contact with anyone. How was she to tell her family what she saw? That Leo's trial could lead to his annihilation? The tears rolled down her cheeks as she hid her face behind the letter in to look as though she were rereading it.

"Are you sure they will see it that way, Leo?" Piper continued to cradle her babies, "The elders have never been on our side before."

"But I am one of them now. Not only did Gideon betray me and our family, but he also betrayed them and their cause. Any one of them in the same position would have done the same thing," Leo defended.

Phoebe quickly wiped her eyes, "But none of them have a family, or any immediate ties to earth, why would they understand?"

Carefully walking across the parlor and taking a seat on the couch, Leo let his thoughts wander. Phoebe had a valid point. The reason Leo was so valuable to the elders was because he could better understand his charges and the mortal world because he had been a part of it for so long. His children were snuggled up with their mother and the rest of his family was anxiously awaiting his response to Phoebe. But he couldn't think of any. He just trusted that the elders would understand him. They would have to understand. As if sensing his father's turmoil, Wyatt left Piper's side and walked over to Leo. He climbed up into his daddy's lap and kissed him on the nose before wrapping his arms around his neck. "I love you, too, buddy," Leo kissed his blonde curls. "I have to trust them, Piper," he turned back to his wife, "I have to trust something right now."

"Then trust us," Piper pleaded.

"We're not going to let anything happen to you, Leo," Paige interjected. "In fact, I intend to accompany you to Elderland for this trial thing."

"No," Phoebe jumped to her feet, "I mean, what if they don't let you in… or you're being there makes things worse for Leo."

Piper began to shake her head, "No, I disagree, I think Paige's being there will be good for Leo. She has access just like other whitelighters. And she was at the big fight, she is a witness, she can help defend him."

Paige shook her head with a decisive "Yes."

Phoebe set the letter back on the coffee table and got up to leave the room, "In that case, I'm going to find some place to meditate. It won't hurt at this point."

"What's her problem?" Paige pouted.

"I think she had a premonition," Piper handed Chris to Paige before following Phoebe upstairs.

-----

Phoebe was sitting in the middle of her floor with white candles surrounding her. The smells of lavender and jasmine filled the air. She crossed her legs Indian-style, lit the candles, and proceeded to levitate in the center of her circle. Piper walked in and stood at the door watching her sister floating—with a pained look painted across her face.

"Tell me what you saw, Phoebe," she calmly ordered. Phoebe did not open her eyes, she did not lower herself back to the ground, she simply continued to float—palms up, back erect, with slow deliberate breaths. "Pheebs," Piper walked into the room and sat in front of her, "Don't ignore me. I know you saw something when you picked up that letter." Phoebe continued to not speak—she reached across the candles and took Piper by the hands as she too began to levitate. "What are we?"

"Shh," Phoebe quieted her, "Listen. Close your eyes and listen."

Piper closed her eyes. In what felt like minutes the blackness behind her eyelids slowly gave way to an image. The image revealed Leo and Paige standing before the council of elders. In this vision there were five elders in golden velvet robes, with Leo and Paige standing on a podium before them. Each was given their turn to talk before the elders made their decision. Suddenly there was a bright light, and when Phoebe's and Piper's vision returned, Leo and Paige were no longer standing on the podium. Piper immediately let go of Phoebe's hands and fell to the floor, "Ouch," she rubbed her rear as she stood, "Explain that to me," she asked Phoebe—who was still in a meditative pose, levitating about a foot above the ground.

"I can't," she sighed opening her eyes and lowering herself back to the floor, "It is different from the one I saw in the parlor when I first touched the letter."

"What was that?" panic edged Piper's voice.

"You don't want to know," Phoebe began blowing out the candles. Piper's face turned pale, "Oh, but no worries, sweetie," Phoebe put her hand on Piper's cheek. "I'm not worried anymore. What this means to me is that the future is changing. I am confident that Paige's being there will have a positive impact."

"Yeah, so confident that your eye is twitching," Piper pointed out.

"What do you mean by that?" Phoebe questioned as her right eye twitched.

Piper laughed, "Ever since you were little, your eye has twitched when you are lying."

"Oh," Phoebe put her hand over her right eye, "but seriously, Piper, I don't think I can trust the first premonition. Paige wasn't in it and she was in this one. Something will be different."

"Let's just hope it's not that my husband will be taken away and recycled," Piper turned to leave the room.

"Or blown into millions of pieces," Phoebe added under her breath.

-----

A crowd of people were gathered around a purple flame in the middle of the woods. In the crowd could be seen magical creatures of all varieties—wood nymphs, witches, fairies, sprites, ogres, leprechauns, centaurs, unicorns, fairy tale characters, gnomes, and elves. The leader was standing on a stump beside the fire. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, had silk white hair and blazing blue eyes, and was holding his hands above the fire and chanting. A woman approximately the same age with fire red hair stood to his right and was also chanting with him, as was a man on his left with black hair and green eyes. The onlookers stood puzzled as the gazed into the fire. In the flames was a scene of chaotic violence. Probes had encircled a group of four adults and were trying to scan their eyes—however a force field was erected around them, sending the lasers from the probes bouncing off the walls of building.

"Don't give up!" a sprite yelled to the three, "you can't give up or they will be caught!"

At the moment Chris orbed in and threw a handful of a silver powder into the flame with an explosion, "Sorry I'm late."

"About damn time," the man with jet black hair snarled.

"I apologized, Cooper. Just watch," Chris motioned back to the fire.

Chloe shimmered in behind the probes, now dressed head to toe in black. With a wave of her left hand she sent the probes flying into the nearest wall. With her right hand she tossed the same silver powder that Chris had thrown into the flames onto the force field. She immediately flipped down the shades that were on top of her head as the people vanished in a flash of white light, leaving a telltale scorch mark on the ground. She then fell to the ground as Wyatt and handful of demons appeared behind her.

"You vanquished them all?" Wyatt walked up to her, offering her his hand to help her stand.

"What else should I have done?" Chloe brushed herself off, standing slowly more from her previous fight with the brute demons than the current situation.

"Nothing. Excellent," Wyatt smiled, "You can go," he waved off his lackeys. Chloe walked slowly to the edge of the scorch marks before bending down and placing her hand on the ground—obviously in pain. "You're in pain."

Chloe put her hand on the mark and immediately saw that the four witches that had been targeted by the probes were now safely in the enchanted forest. "Did you expect them to go without a fight, Wyatt?" she again fell back, but Wyatt caught her.

"Here," he placed his hand on her back as the familiar golden glow was emitted from his hand, "Witches?" he asked.

"Yeah, four—in here hiding, probably hoping to be smuggled out with the shipment tomorrow. But they're gone now," she turned to him revealing a gash on her left cheek.

"You should have waited for backup. You've got a nasty gash on your cheek," again he placed his hand over the wound.

Chloe pushed him off, "I can handle it."

"Can you?" Wyatt approached her, "You've been off your game lately. What's up with you?" Chloe didn't answer him, but instead sat back on pile of boxes. "The dreams?"

"The dreams?" Trey turned to Chris as they watched the interaction between Wyatt and Chloe in the flames. Chris didn't answer him but kept watching his cousin and his brother.

"Yeah, I was up in the Rockies meditating earlier," Chloe practically whispered.

Wyatt nodded, "I was wondering where you went," he sat next to her. Although Wyatt had begun fighting against good and working with demons, he still held his cousin in high regards—he still loved her, if that was even possible.

"They seem so real, Wy," Chloe put her head in her hands, "I can't shake them."

Wyatt put his hand on her shoulder and leaned into her ear, "But you have to. They are making you appear weak."

"I am weak," Chloe growled and stood up. She waved her hand as a box flew across the room with a crash, simultaneously crushing a crystal that had been implanted in the wall.

"Damnit," Chris threw a log on the fire that had now turned from purple to gold and yellow, the image within it gone.

"You can't be weak," Wyatt's tone suddenly took a serious tone, "if you appear weak, you'll be in danger. We'll be in danger."

Chloe laughed, "You won't be in danger."

"Just get over it," Wyatt kept his tone, "take a couple of days off. No one will question me. Come back your normal self." Chloe shook her head in agreement and pulled the amulet off her neck before tossing it to her cousin. Wyatt caught it, "And if we need to do any spells or rituals when you get back to purge these dreams, we'll work on it. OK?" Chloe just stood and shook her head yes, "Chloe, answer me."

"Ok, Wyatt. I'm going to go," she shimmered out leaving Wyatt grasping the golden amulet in his hand—the sign of the new coven, the new power of which he and Chloe now belonged.

7


	3. Nightmares

_Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed my story! You make this worth it! I hope you like this chapter as well! Abs_

_-----_

Piper paced the floor of her bedroom before turning to blast the nearest stuffed animal. Chris, who was lying in his bassinet, erupted in tears and screams. Piper collapsed into the floor crying as well, "I don't understand," she cried out to the elders, "He was protecting his family. He was protecting you!"

Paige ran into the room upon hearing the crying, "Piper? Chris?" she reached over her sister and picked up the crying baby. Rocking Chris, "Piper, why is Blinky Bunny in piles of stuffing? Honey, please tell me why you're crying."

Piper crawled gently up onto the bed as Paige sat beside her and handed her Chris. Piper collected herself before answering Paige, "It seems like the elders have always been out to get us. They were against our marriage, against our having children, and now against Leo defending his family and them. I just don't understand, Paige," she began to softly cry again as Chris suckled on her fingers.

"Don't worry about that right now. We still have ten days to come up with a case for Leo. And I have some of the grad students at the school looking up similar cases so we can use them in his defense. We are not going to let them take your husband, or your father," she tweaked Chris's cheek, "away. Not now—not ever. Come on, I've got dinner ready."

Piper laughed, "You have dinner ready? Since when did you start cooking?"

"Who said I cooked?" Paige winked, "Chinese Dragon from Chinatown, Mushu chicken, happy family and spring rolls just for us," she took her sisters hand as they stood. Neither Piper nor Paige noticed Wyatt standing in the doorway when his eyes flashed blue light.

-----

_Dear Cole,_

_I hope that this message finds you well and rested. I have thought of you often and our short time together. I know that you have asked that I let you have your time and space from me so that you could find yourself and your purpose. I write you only to let you know that we are in danger and in need of your assistance. Leo has been charged with a crime by the Elders' council and is need of some legal assistance. It is possible that he may be put to death and have his soul recycled—we don't know what that could mean for the kids, for our future. The tribunal meets in ten days. It is my hope that this letter reaches you—I'm trying a new spell since you haven't told me where you are. Blessed be, Cole. Forever yours, Phoebe._

Phoebe lightly pressed her lips against the letter. Her heart skipped a beat and she saw Cole. Cole was sitting alone on a mountain top overlooking the sunset. His mind was at ease and his body was rested. He was meditating and levitating about a foot above the ground. She could sense his presence and she knew he was able to sense her as well—a smile curled his lips.

She pulled the letter away from her mouth and wiped a tear from her eye, "You'll hear me. I know you will," Phoebe walked to the potions cabinet and removed the ingredients she needed. She lit a red candle and placed it under the basin as she began to add the ingredients. Lastly, she read the incantation, "Take these words across the sky. Fly my thoughts straight to his heart. His strength we need to help us by. That he may be here to serve his part." Phoebe dropped the letter into the pot of potion as a small white light floated out of the basin and hovered about a foot over the basin before whisking out the window.

High in the Adirondacks, a white light flew towards Cole and hit him in the chest. His breath was taken away as he lowered himself to the ground. Phoebe's voice echoed in his ears with the words of her letter. He sighed and opened his eyes. "My family needs me," he spoke to an invisible visitor.

"We need you," the visitor's voice informed him.

"Not now, not yet. I'm not ready. You know that."

"Maybe," the visitor took a transparent form, "but if you leave now, you may not be ready when we need you. I don't think we can take that risk."

"Well," Cole picked up his coat, "You don't really have a choice. I am not a member of the order, you can't tell me what to do. And seeing that I have the leverage in the situation, you're going to deal with it. Excuse me," Cole shimmered away.

-----

Chloe shimmered into the woods and watched the various occupants bustle around the fires and walk in and out of caves. She walked to a stump and sat down. "I know that you're here, you might as well show yourself."

Cooper suddenly materialized behind her, "Chris and Trey are worried."

"So is Wyatt," Chloe opened her hand as a coffee cup appeared. She took a sip, "Thanks, I need this."

"Yeah," Cooper sat next to her, "If Wyatt is worried, couldn't that?"

"Blow my cover, yeah. It will weaken me and weaken my ability to block him out," Chloe took another long sip.

"Chris wanted to see you," Cooper stood up, "Glad you're back, Chloe. Even if it's just for a little while. We've missed you," he patted her shoulder as he left.

Chloe put her hand on the spot where Cooper had been sitting. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to see a vision. Chloe saw Cooper sitting on a bench with his mother, a witch, at a park in London. Cooper looked to be about six years old at the time—he was conjuring marbles on the ground, obviously to his mother's dismay, but Cooper was laughing. A marble would appear and subsequently disappear before reappearing at another location on the ground. "Look it," Cooper giggled as the marble popped in and out of Chloe's view. She smiled. Cooper's mother, Elaine, was a witch who had, unbeknownst to her, fallen in love with a warlock. The warlock had been sent to steal her powers of invisibility and creating illusions, but as he was wooing her to get close enough to steal her powers, he too found himself in love. Zachi, Cooper's father, was only half warlock and had fallen into an evil coven when his powers manifested at thirteen. Given the opportunity to choose evil or good, he had chosen evil—but when he met and fell in love with Cooper's mother, his humanity had once again manifested. A story that was not unfamiliar in Chloe's family tree. Suddenly a man blinked onto the park bench across from Cooper, "Dad," the child jumped up and ran to him. "Coop, good to see you. I've missed you," he pulled him into a hug. Cooper's mother smiled at seeing her son and love reunited. Before the scene could completely register with Chloe, three demons shimmered in behind Cooper's mother and twisted her neck with a pop. Chloe felt herself wince with the image. Zachi thrust Cooper into the bushes behind him while simultaneously lunging at the attackers. The fight was quick. Zachi shot each demon with a blast of energy before grabbing the leader by the neck, "Who sent you?" he snarled. Chloe's view of the scene then switched to that of Cooper who was crouched behind a low bush. The demon began laughing at him. "I'm going to ask you again before I break your neck. Who sent you?" Zachi repeated. The demon laughed and spit in his face, "They did." Zachi snapped his neck with a growl and fell to the ground. He then crawled to the body of his beloved and cradled her in his arms—his tears dripping on her face. Cooper emerged from the brush crying, "Mommy?" Zachi shuttered and pulled his son close to him. Chloe opened her eyes at the image of Cooper's father holding him close over his mother.

"What'd you see? Was it what you were searching for?" Chris emerged from the shadows.

"I saw Cooper's mom's death," Chloe sniffed, "I'd never seen that before. And no, that's not what I was aiming for," she took a sip of her coffee.

"What's happening with you?" Chris helped Chloe to her feet as they started walking back towards the camp.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Liar," Chris called her out, "you smashed the crystal because you knew that Trey and I were watching and you didn't want us to hear you telling Wyatt what was going on. But you're going to, because I'm not willing to risk you either." Chloe rolled her eyes; she didn't want to tell Chris about the dreams. "But you've got to tell someone," he leaned over and whispered in her ear as they approached the fire.

-----

Phoebe lay in her bed tossing and turning. She saw Chris, Piper, Leo, Paige, Cole, Richard and herself battling a demon in a crypt. But there was an eighth person there. A girl. The demon was trapped in a crystal cage and she could sense the emotions of the group. Anger. Rage. Pain. The girl was hidden behind Chris, shielding her from the attack, as the demon and Cole engaged in a fight. When it all ended, the girl was emotionally destroyed, and the demon was dead. Phoebe sat up in her bed.

-----

Chloe sat up and clutched the pillow she had been sleeping on tightly to her chest. She looked around the room at Maggie and her two other roommates—they were all sleeping so peacefully. Chloe slipped her pink slippers on and gracefully walked out of the room. She entered the common room of the cave and sat on the sofa. She looked around. This had been her home since she was sixteen and her mother died.

"Promise me, Chloe, if anything ever happens to me, you'll go to the enchanted forest," Phoebe had pleaded.

Chloe mock laughed, "You have to be kidding me, mom. Enchanted forest? That only exists in fairy tales and stories."

"Chloe Paige Halliwell, you amaze me," Phoebe shook her head, "exactly where do you think those stories come from?" Chloe had shrugged her shoulders, "they come from real life. They come from people whose minds are still unjaded and able to see the truth—that magic exists everywhere. I thought I had taught you better than that," she teased.

"Hansel and Gretel really existed?" Chloe pushed.

Phoebe nodded yes, "And so did the big bad wolf, so you better be careful young lady," she picked up her daughter's hands, "Seriously, Chloe, promise me you will go there. It is protected by all things good, evil magic cannot penetrate it and cannot sense within its boarders. You have to promise me you'll go there."

"I promise," Chloe saw the sincerity in her mother's eyes and had to agree. "I never expected it to be within a week that I would come here," she opened her eyes to look back around the room. "Five years and counting," she yawned as she made her way towards the boys' room.

Chloe pushed the door open slightly to peer inside. Trey, Cooper, and Chris all slept quietly in their respective corners of the room. Chloe tiptoed over to her cousin who was turning his head back and forth as if having a bad dream, "I wonder," Chloe picked up his hand and was swept into his dream. In it she saw Chris writhing in the floor of a demonic liar, a dark lighter's arrow protruding from his abdomen. Gish, the demon of desires, towered over him, bow still in hand. "I knew your desires from the beginning. You never wished for your charges to be killed. You only wanted to teach them a lesson. But now their desires shall feed me and kill you," he taunted before returning to his bubbling stone cauldron. In it Chloe saw Phoebe, Paige, and Piper each living their desires out to disastrous proportions. Chloe withdrew her hand from Chris's. _So real,_ she thought, _almost like a memory. Just like my dreams._ She looked back down at Chris who now had his hands wrapped around an invisible arrow in his stomach. "Chris," she leaned over to whisper, "Chris," she repeated.

He finally stirred and opened his eyes, "What's the matter?" he whispered as he sat up in the bed, "Everything ok? You haven't been compromised have you?"

"No," Chloe quieted; afraid that he might wake the others, "I just had a nightmare," she confessed hoping it would also make him reveal what he had been dreaming.

Chris frowned, "More?"

Chloe knew that Chris was not going to tell her what he had been dreaming and she was not going to admit to having joined the dream as well, "Yeah, but nothing new. The same one of us in the mausoleum with my mom, dad, Piper, Paige, and Paige's ex, Richard. Fighting a demon named Batterak?" she questioned having never heard of the demon before. Chris shook his head as well, he didn't recognize the name. "It was intense. Almost like I was there doing it instead of here."

"That's really weird, Chloe," Chris thought back on his own series of nightmares—nightmares that had the realistic undertone of a buried memory.

"Yeah," she agreed, "I'm going to crawl back into bed… with Trey," she added with a wink, "I sleep better when I'm with him."

"Too much information," Chris lay back down.

"At least we're in the same room," Chloe whispered in his ear, "You know nothing is going to happen."

"Too much information," Chris repeated pushing Chloe back causing her to stumble away, giggling to herself. He watched her crawl into the bed next to Trey and slide up under his arm. Trey opened one eye, saw that it was his girlfriend, and kissed her sweetly on lips, before pulling her close. _At least you're safe with him_, Chris thought as he rolled over to face the wall. _And I don't have to watch it_, he thought before trailing back to sleep.

"Always," Chloe whispered before falling back to sleep as well.


	4. Lunchtime

_Sorry this is a little slow in coming. I'm working and it's hard to find as much time to write as I had while I was in school. Thanks for being patient with me! And thank you for the reviews!_

_-Abs_

_-----_

Phoebe rushed up to Paige who was sitting patiently at the café's table. "I love this place, I'm so glad that you wanted to have lunch here today," Paige smiled as Phoebe took her seat.

"Sorry I'm late," Phoebe apologized.

"If you weren't late, you wouldn't be you. It'd be the first sign that you're possessed," Paige nodded.

"I get it, Paige," Phoebe raised an eye to her little sister who just smiled. As she reviewed the menu, Phoebe contemplated whether or not to tell Paige about her dreams. She had been having a series of nightmares since little Chris's birth and big Chris's return to the future. The nightmares ranged from reliving old vanquishes, including Batterak's, to seeing images from the future. At least that is what she had to assume. In a recent dream Phoebe had witnessed Chris in a battle in downtown San Francisco. San Francisco didn't look at all like it did presently. Although the city was covered in a perpetual morning fog, in the future it seemed that the sun never shone. All the images were hazy and dark. Phoebe could sense the desolation, the fear—everyone was in hiding, witches, demons and innocents alike. There was a threatening new power, its presence could be sensed everywhere. There was chaos in the balance of good and evil—demons were converting to the side of good, and witches were joining evil… including Wyatt. Phoebe hadn't told Piper and Leo because she didn't know whether to interpret the dreams as remnants of the future that used to be before Gideon was killed, or the future that was a result of the present. Had Chris failed? Phoebe didn't know how to answer it.

What she did know was that Chris had been in the fight. Chris had led a group, presumptively of witches, against a demon named Tyris. Tyris was obviously a servant to a greater evil, but who Phoebe was unable to detect. The witches whom accompanied Chris were young, probably in their twenties, but they were powerful. Phoebe had witnessed Chris causing a demon to explode with one hand while flinging another into a fire with the other before pulling a vanquishing potion out of his pocket to throw at the onslaught. He had definitely become more adroit at using his powers since he left. The other witches were equally as impressive, using powers of invisibility, energy, levitation, astral projection, deflection—you name it and these kids possessed it. What was strange was that they were fighting in the middle of the street—in San Francisco. The onlookers had fled as soon as the battle had begun. And what were they fighting over? From Phoebe's perspective there was no innocent. There was no single person who the witches were trying to save from the demons. As the image faded from her mind, she had seen Tyris attack Chris with a massive energy ball before shimmering out with what was left of his gang. Chris had fallen back with a substantial chest wound. Crawling on the ground he had found the hand of one of his entourage—all five were still alive. Collapsing next to him, another member waved his hand as they all disappeared in a flash of green light before reappearing in the forest glen. There Phoebe saw the most exhaustive collection of good magical creatures she had ever witnessed. Various nymphs, elves and fairies rushed in to aid the wounded. Then a man. A tall man that Phoebe felt oddly connected to reached over Chris and healed his chest wound. Chris squeezed his hand in gratitude after he was done and laid on the ground resting. The man sat back and watched over him. She never saw his face—but she sensed his soul.

Phoebe hadn't realized that she had been stirring the cream into her tea for five minutes when she heard Paige speaking, "I think you've got that tea well mixed."

"Oh," Phoebe laughed, "I guess I wasn't paying attention," she took a sip of her now cold tea.

"Right, so how about telling me what you were just thinking about?" Paige took a sip of her own drink.

"I've been having strange dreams lately," Phoebe began.

"Prophetic? Premonitions?"

"I'm not really sure," Phoebe continued, "I almost feel as though I am invading someone else's dreams. Or invading their memories. It's doesn't feel like a premonition because I don't feel like I am supposed to be helping these people. I am just being informed."

"Who are they? Who are the people you are seeing?" Paige interrogated.

Phoebe lowered her head. She didn't want to tell Paige that she had seen Chris fighting in a future that appeared to be unchanged from the one he left. She was afraid that Paige would tell Piper and she would begin to panic even more. Piper had enough on her mind with Leo's impending trial, a new baby, and a toddler who liked to orb his little brother around the world in an odd game of hide and seek. But she had to tell someone. "I can't see all the faces," she half-confessed, "But it's the future. I know it is."

"Of course it's the future, but how far into the future? Innocents we are supposed to help now?" Paige kept questioning. Ever since she and Richard split Paige had become a demon hunting vigilante. The crime rate was lower, the underworld appeared to be taking a rest from tormenting innocents, and the Halliwells had been, what they thought to be, demon free for three weeks and counting thanks to some major detective work on the part of Paige. She had uncovered a plot to kidnap Chris and Wyatt soon after Chris's birth. Ballew, a kamikaze demon, had formed a faction to take the boys to sale on the black market—with Wyatt's predilection for evil, and Chris being a nascent witch, their powers could still be used against the Charmed Ones. However, one of Ballew's team had failed at kidnapping them one night and Paige held him captive in the crystal cage. Through a series of torturous screams and snipits of the truth, Paige was able to deduce the plan and where the group was meeting. Before vanquishing the demon, she took a piece of his flesh to make a vanquishing potion for the others. She then orbed into the demons' lair and vanquished all except for Ballew in one sweep. Using the crystals to hold Ballew captive as she had his steward, she forced him to send a message to the other demon's—stay away from the Charmed Ones' children before she vanquished in fire in front of them. The message got across.

"No, I told you that. I think that I am just watching what is happening. And they're not innocents. They're witches," Phoebe hoped Paige wouldn't ask her who.

"Oh," Paige sat back. She knew that Phoebe was keeping something from her—that she wasn't ready to tell her exactly what she was seeing in the dreams and she decided to respect that, "As long as their safe. Thank you," she turned to take her plate of chicken salad from the waiter and set it on the table in front of her.

Phoebe had ordered an arrugila salad with baby crab cakes and set it in front of her, "I hope they are. But no more business talk," she took a bite, "Tell me about Gavin."

"Gavin, Gavin. What is there not to love about Gavin?" Paige gushed, "He is a teacher for defensive magic, he's two years older than moi, a witch who does not abuse his powers, and he's radiant—Irish, red hair, emerald eyes. Too bad he has no idea that I even exist. Aside from my being his boss of course."

Phoebe crunched her salad, "At least you won't have to worry about the whole keeping you're a witch thing a secret. He already knows!"

"Too true, but don't you think I need to get him to notice me before we talk about that?" Paige pondered aloud.

"Leave that to me," Phoebe smiled wickedly, "I'm all over playing cupid. You know we made out once. It was heavenly."

"You and Cupid? Really? Do tell," Paige dropped her fork as Phoebe recounted her visit with Cupid and saving him, and love, from Drazee.

-----

"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine," Leo sang to Chris as he spun blue orbs over him like a mobile, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine." Chris giggled. "You like that, little man?" Leo asked as he picked him up. "If you're older counterpart had seen me doing that, he would be so disgusted. Yes, he would. Yes, you would. Whatever," Leo coed as he rocked Chris back and forth on his shoulder.

"Block," Wyatt announced as he walked into the nursery with a trail of blocks following him.

"I see that," Leo leaned down to talk to Wyatt with Chris still on his shoulder, "You better be careful where you do that. You might get in trouble," he kissed his oldest on the forehead. "Can you give your little brother Chris a kiss, Wyatt?"

Wyatt leaned over and kissed Chris on the cheek before looking up to his father, "No Chris," he pouted, "Nooo Chris," he shook his finger before walking to his toy box and floating the blocks back in. He then reached inside, pulled out an elephant and tiger figurine, and proceeded to bring them to life with the blink of his eyes. He then sat and watched them fight, laughing.

"What do you mean, 'no Chris'?" Leo asked Wyatt who ignored him, "He didn't do anything to you, stinker."

Piper started laughing, alerting Leo to her presence. "I don't think that's what he means, honey." She walked in and took her infant in her arms.

"What do you think it means then?"

Piper watched Wyatt as he directed his toys in their battle, "I think he means it's not Chris. To him, this baby isn't Chris. Chris left him," she walked over to Wyatt and sat on the floor next to him holding baby Chris in her lap. She then reached up and picked up the picture of big Chris holding Wyatt from the dresser. "Wyatt," she tapped him on the arm, "Who is this?" she handed him the picture.

"Chris!" he announced excited and kissed it.

"That's right. Who is this?" she pointed to the baby.

Wyatt frowned, "baby," and turned back to his toys.

"No, no," Piper pulled him back closer to her. She picked up the picture and held it next to baby Chris, "Look, Wyatt, big Chris," she pointed to the picture, "little Chris," she pointed to the baby. "Your brother," she held Chris out so that Wyatt could think about it. "I know it's hard to understand. It's hard for the adults to understand. But Chris didn't leave you, Wyatt. He's still right here, just smaller."

Wyatt didn't say anything. He studied the picture and then would look back at the baby. Finally he picked the frame back up and announced, "Chris," pointing back at his brother in the picture, "Clo," he pointed to a blank space over Chris's shoulder.

"He's not glowing, sweetie," Piper took it back from him to see what he was talking about.

"Clo," Wyatt repeated determined. He then turned to Leo, "Clo?" and held up his hands.

Leo walked over to Piper and took the picture from her. He hadn't had the time to examine it before Piper picked it up to show Wyatt. His eyes grew large with realization, "Piper, I haven't noticed this picture before. When did you frame it?"

"Just recently," she stood and took it back from him wondering what he was seeing, "Do you understand what he's talking about?"

"No," Leo lied, "maybe he's making some connection between big Chris and little Chris." Piper nodded her head and left the room—Leo's answer seemed to satisfy her. Leo looked at the picture. In it were Chris, Wyatt, and Chloe standing behind Chris with her arm around his back. He picked the picture back up and sat back on the floor with Wyatt as the elephant gave the tiger a mean lashing with his trunk, "Wyatt," he whispered, "Who is this?" he pointed to Chloe.

"Clo!" Wyatt exclaimed grinning, "Chris," he pointed then, "Clo," he smiled, "Why-it!"

"That's right!" Leo hugged him, "But don't tell your mama. She doesn't remember Chloe."

-----

Phoebe and Paige walked into the kitchen and found Piper covered in baby food green peas, "What happened?" Phoebe laughed.

"Not funny!" Piper sponged herself off, "Not funny," she repeated, "That little one over there didn't want to eat his lunch. He sneezed and what was in his mouth flew all over me as did the bowl of green pea mush sitting in front of him."

"He used his powers?" Paige asked excitedly as she walked over to baby Chris, "Good for you using your telekinesis!"

"Not good for you," Piper corrected, "I don't think he did it on purpose," she finished cleaning herself off. "He told me that the first time he used his powers was in the grocery store when he was six months old. And it was orbing."

"Well, the only way he would know that is if you told him. Maybe you conveniently forgot about this little incident," Phoebe winked, "it also means you need to look out for him orbing himself somewhere instead of Wyatt."

"Great. Two kids who can do a disappearing act. I'll tell him the truth this time," Piper sat back down in front of the baby, this time armed with apple sauce, "I know you like this," she airplaned the applesauce into Chris's open mouth. He smiled. "So ladies, tell me about your lunch. Neither of you are wearing it."

"That's because we didn't have the pleasure of eating with a telekinetic baby," Paige laughed and sat at the table next to Chris. "We had a great lunch at Café Bella where Phoebe half-told me a story about the nightmares she has been having. I know you're keeping something back," she pointed to her sister.

Phoebe knew she was busted but she also knew that she couldn't confess as to what she was hiding in front of Piper, "Yes, I am. But they are just dreams. I'll work through them," she joined them at the table.

"How do you know they are just dreams, Pheebs?" Piper asked, "You've been psychically linked to people before, had premonitions in your sleep, what if that's the case this time?"

Phoebe had been psychically linked the succubus when she came into San Francisco before she, Prue and Piper had vanquished her, "I had forgotten about the succubus," she said out loud.

"That's right," Piper stuck another bite of applesauce into Chris's mouth, "How do you know this is different?"

"I don't," Phoebe recollected. She had not thought that she may have been linked to future Chris. But she wasn't seeing the images through his eyes, she was seeing them through someone else's, and feeling that person's emotions. "I don't think we need to worry about it," she said to her sisters, "It will work out. Whatever I am supposed to learn from it, I will. I always do. What we need to concentrate on is getting Leo through this little depression and anxiety thing he is going through, and keeping him from being recycled by the Elders. I have a plan." She paused. She hadn't told her sisters about Cole, "But you might not like who it involves."

"If it involves Cole, I was wondering when you were going to bring him in," Piper sat back in her chair.

"What?" Phoebe's jaw dropped.

"Yeah, Pheebs. He's a lawyer, he's perfect," Paige chimed in, "It's about time."

Phoebe looked between her sisters, she had expected more of an argument. But given Cole's useful aid in defeating Gideon, she sensed that he was beginning to win back her sisters' trust, "Well, I contacted him a couple of days ago. I wrote a spell and sent him a letter since I don't know where he is. He's coming. He said that he has some information that he has to gather before he makes it here, but he will come."

"Good. An ex-demon lawyer, he'll put those cranky Elders in their place," Piper unbuckled Chris and took him upstairs to change him.

-----

Cole was sitting in the middle of the Great Hall of Records. The hall existed on a separate plane from reality. It held the records of things done on the sides of good and evil, and therefore had to be stored at a place where it was accessible to both sides. He was surrounded by towers of books and rolls of parchment. In front of him, a small crystal ball was playing out a scene that looked as though it was dated in the late-1800s. In it, a man and a woman were fighting with each other in the middle of a park. The presiding council, in this particular court—demonic, hovered above them deciding their fate. The man suddenly went up in flames as a glowing orb floated up from where his body had been and into the hands of one of the council members. The woman scooped up a small boy from the ground, smiled evilly, and shimmered out of sight. "That's not going to happen to Leo and Piper's children," Cole coolly stated, "They are going to grow up with their father," he re-opened another book and continued searching for cases that would serve as examples for Leo's.


	5. Happy Anniversary

_Thank you so much for your reviews and encouragement to keep writing! I hope I don't disappoint…fyi: the stars are the beginning and the end of a flashback for Chris._

_-Abs_

-----

She felt his lips lightly touch hers before she opened her mouth a little for a softer, more sensual, more intimate kiss. There was no point in opening her eyes. She knew exactly who he was by the way he touched her, moved on the bed, even the smell of his shampoo, "Good morning, Cooper?" Chloe laughed as she opened one eye.

"He better not be kissing you like that," Trey pouted as Chloe reached up and pulled him back down into another passionate kiss.

"No, he doesn't kiss me like that," she slipped her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Don't tempt me kill him, Chloe, cause I will," Trey kissed her on the top of the head, "He's been getting on my last nerve."

Chloe sighed deeply thinking of the images she had seen from Cooper's childhood the night before. "He's been through a lot, Trey. And I think he is battling some inner demons as well as the ones of the world."

"As long as he does it without kissing my girlfriend we shouldn't have any more problems," Trey got up from the bed and grabbed a jacket before tossing Chloe one of his long-sleeved shirts. "It's nice to have you back," he turned back to her with a pot in his hands. He waved his hand over the dirt as a small plant began to emerge from the soil. Within seconds it had bloomed into a gorgeous red rose. He clipped it and handed it to his love. Chloe melted. Trey sat back down on the bed with her, "I've missed you, and I love you. We all need you around here. Chris is absolutely intolerable when you're gone. Sometimes I wonder who loves you more—me or him."

"Oh, it's so different," Chloe stiffened up.

"I know," Trey rubbed his hand down her arm, "you're like his little sister. But he worries, so much, Clo. He doesn't trust Wyatt. And neither do I."

Chloe leaned forward and put her head into Trey's chest as he draped his arms around her neck, "I know you don't. But I do. I really don't think he is bad, Trey. I know his actions speak otherwise, but I am not convinced that it is by choice," she sat back to look into Trey's eyes. He began to protest but she placed her finger to his lips, "No, he doesn't have me fooled. And I know he is powerful—too powerful to be under a spell."

Trey grabbed Chloe's hand and pulled it away from his mouth, "How many times do I have to tell you to let me ask the question out loud before you answer?"

Chloe shook her head with a wink and a smile before leaning over to put her fuzzy pink slippers back on her feet. "Probably as often as I have to tell you to stop worrying."

Trey grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away, "I worry because I love you. When I stop worrying is when you know something is wrong. If I lost you," his voice became shaky.

"You won't, angel. I do trust Wyatt. He is not going to put me in any greater danger than I can handle," she pulled Trey's shirt over her head and made her way to the sofa. "It's just getting harder and harder for me to play both sides. I want to be here fighting with you. I'm good. But sometimes it's too easy playing the evil part. And these past few weeks have been especially hard," she picked up the newspaper that was sitting on the sofa beside her. In her mind she saw the fighting, the open bartering for powers on the streets, innocents living in community shelters protected by good magic to shield them from the gang wars going on outside. It was chaos. "This is not the way it's supposed to be. I know it's not."

"That's what Chris keeps saying," Trey joined her on the couch, "But I don't know how else it should be."

Chloe let another image flood her mind—an image from her dreams. The image was one of her mother, her father, her aunts, her cousins, and Leo sitting around a table and enjoying a meal together. She looked to be around eight, Chris eleven, and Wyatt thirteen. They were laughing and enjoying each other's company. Nobody talked about demons. Nobody talked about death. And everyone was genuinely happy. "I had a dream," she confessed, "and not one of those bad dreams that I keep having. Not one of the ones where I feel like I am living someone else's memories. This one was like a vision. Like it was something that really happened, except it hasn't." She explained the dream to Trey with vivid detail, even down to the chocolate mocha truffle Piper had made for dessert, "With candles on top because it was my birthday," she smiled, "That was the way things should have been. But they weren't," tears began to form in Chloe's eyes, "My dad had to start shimmering between dimensions when I was five because he was being hunted by the new source and the Avatars had labeled him a deserter. I have very few memories of Leo, but none of them include him being at family meals. And my mom, Piper and Paige, I never saw them that relaxed, that happy. They never thought we were safe."

Trey picked up her hand and kissed it, "But what can we do, baby? You see the past to help us solve problems in the present. How does seeing a vision of what should have been effect what is now?"

"I don't know," Chloe sighed standing, "I don't know what it means anymore than what the nightmares mean." She knew she had to tell Trey how she planned to begin to understand. She also knew that he was going to protest heavily. "I've got to tell you something," she turned to him quickly.

"That's never a good way to start a new conversation," Trey hesitantly replied.

"I'm going to visit my dad," Chloe braced for the worst.

"Ok."

"Ok? You're not going to protest?" she was shocked.

"No, I'm not. Chloe, he's your dad and you are the only person in the world who can find him. Literally. And I know that right now you need him more than ever. These dreams might be your powers progressing and he is the only one left who can explain them to you," Trey answered honestly.

Chloe rose from the sofa before leaning down to kiss Trey tenderly on the lips, "Thank you. I won't be gone long. I only have five days leave. I'll tell Chris," she opened the door, "Trey?"

"Yeah," he stood and put his hands in his jacket pockets while checking her out.

"I love you, too," she smiled and closed the door.

-----

Chris orbed into the cemetery behind a withered rose bush. He scanned the area for any demonic watchmen before running up the steps and into the mausoleum. He waved his hand and unlocked the door as he slid inside. Chris took a couple of tentative steps towards the Halliwell wall. Before him read the names of Patricia, Penelope, Prudence, Paige, Piper, and Phoebe. He held open the palms of his hands as a white rose formed out of purple orbs. He bowed his head, "I promise that I will not rest until this has been changed. Until each one of your deaths has been revenged. I know this is not the future that you fought for and not the future you wanted for us. I'm going to change it. I promise." There was the sound of dropping chains as Chris turned to see two thugs walking into the mausoleum. He quickly orbed out.

He found himself sitting on top of the Golden Gate Bridge when he gathered himself. He found some sort of solace there—even though the view was anything but pleasant. The bay was dark, even though he could swear it was around noon. What had once been a magnificent view of the Presidio, Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz—now looked like the remains of a nuclear holocaust. Yet whenever Chris needed to think, this is where he found himself. He was perched high above the water, on the tallest tower support, legs curled under his chin, and quiet. His only occasional visitors were the few gulls that were scouring the city for the any remains of food.

One of the few memories from his childhood of his father was directly linked to this place. Leo brought him here to teach him how to use his powers. Unlike Wyatt, Chris was slower at developing his extra-perception senses. "You're not willing to let go," Leo used to tell him, "You have to relax and trust your instincts. Clear your mind." Leo would tell him stories of how when he first became an elder he would come here to think, to concentrate, and to connect with the other elders. He would assure him that he would understand "some day" with a wink and a sly smile. Thinking back on it gave Chris an awkward queasiness in his stomach—a twinge of familiarity that he couldn't explain. Almost as though it wasn't a memory from his childhood at all. Almost as though it had actually happened in the not too distant past. He quickly shook his head to rattle the thoughts lose, "That's not why you're up here, Halliwell," he mumbled to himself. "Today's the anniversary. The ten year anniversary," he caught himself, "ten years? No, five years." _Where did that come from?_ He thought. "Today is the five year anniversary," he sighed as his eyes grew unfocused from staring off into the distance.

"Chris, pack your things. You're taking Chloe and you're getting out of here," Piper ordered as she walked into the attic tossing Chris a bag.

"What?" Chris picked up the bag exasperated with his mother, "You are not sending me away."

Piper paced the room, "The issue is not up for debate," she simply stated. She looked over her youngest son. He had her fighting spirit and sense of responsibility to family. She knew he would be an asset. His powers were progressing—he could now cause objects to disassociate. He could expertly disassociate a wall while simultaneously sending a lamp flying through it. Chris also never shied away from a fight. Sometimes Piper was convinced that he would look for demons just to work out his negative feelings for his brother by taking out the demons. It made sense to her. Piper had turned into a demon fighting fiend when Prue died—and again in the alternate reality Cole had created before his vanquish. It was in Chris's blood to fight, "To hell with the pacifist whitelighter genes," Piper had scoffed at Chris's first vanquish at age one. "He's a mama's boy." And he was. Now Piper was asking her baby boy, her only child left to carry on the Halliwell blood as Wyatt had turned. Just the thought of Wyatt's betrayal brought tears to her eyes and a knot in her chest. Piper opened Chris's closet and pulled out and armful of shirts and tossed them in his direction.

"Yeah, it is. If you are going into this fight against the Kakó, then I'm going with you. And do you honestly think that Phoebe is going to be able to keep Chloe out of it?"

"Yes!" Piper threw the bag on the floor, "Yes, I do," she stormed up to her son and grabbed him by the shoulder, "I have lost my mother, grandmother, sister, husband and oldest son to evil. I am not losing you or Chloe, too. I refuse! You hear me!" she yelled through the roof. "Now pack that bag and get your cousin. You are leaving."

Chris remembered Piper's touch on his face. She ran her fingers down his cheeks before pulling him tightly into a hug. Her tears dripped to his shoulder. Chris could smell the vanilla in her hair. If he closed his eyes now, he could still feel her fingers as they ran down his cheek. _I have to shake it off_, Chris thought. But he couldn't…

"What are you doing? Get out of my stuff," Chloe waved her hand as the lid to the trunk Chris was rooting through shut on his hand. "And I can't believe you orbed here. Do you know how much trouble you could get in? Hello, witch in the underworld times two."

"Shut up," Chris's eyes were cold. He flicked his pointer finger and the lid to the trunk flew off the hinges and onto the floor.

Chloe's tone sobered and her eyes ballooned, "What's going on, Chris," her sixteen year old voice trembled. "What aren't you telling me?" Chris didn't answer, he gathered her shirts and other belongings into a bag. "Dad!" Chloe called knowing that Cole would be able to hear her. "Dad," she turned to the door in the cave in which Cole had stowed her.

"You do realize, sweetie, that when you yell, it has the potential of giving your location away," Cole practically snarled, "it will kill both your mother and me if that were to happen," he kissed his daughter. "Hello, Christopher," Cole winked. "Why are you here? And how did…" Cole paused, "I forgot. The spell."

Chris looked between Cole and Chloe. _He doesn't know, _Chris thought, _He can't tell you_.

Chloe's eyes searched Cole's before turning to her father's sky blues, "What's going on, daddy?"

Cole finally noticed the bags in Chris's hands, and realization swept his face. "Nothing, princess. Go with Chris."

Her head tilted to the side and she blinked her eyes. _I'm going to find out_, she shot a thought to Chris. She put her hand on Cole's cheek. There was nothing, absolutely nothing…until she saw him standing there looking back at her. "I can't tell you, you can't know. This fight is for you, and you can't participate." Her eyes flew open as she held up her fist and Cole flew back.

In a shimmer he was standing back in front of her, taking her hands in his, watching the tears of anger flood her eyes, "You have my temper, that much has never been in question. And you're right, I blocked your powers. Don't forget who I am," he winked, "and don't forget who you are. You," he looked up indicating Chris as well, "are the future of good magic. Your mothers and your aunts, and all things good, are fighting to protect you. Let them. Let me. I love you, my princess," he kissed her hand and shimmered out.

Chloe pulled Cole's black cloak off the wall, "I'm taking this," she ran her finger over the gold pendant, "I am willing to bet he's not going to need it anymore after this." And looping her arm through Chris's, she surveyed the room one last time before he orbed away.

"Absolutely dismal. I have no idea why you come here," Chloe sat beside Chris.

"You didn't…"

"Shimmer? No. Why shimmer when all I have to do is close my eyes and flash, I'm here," Chloe looked to Chris who stared vacantly out at San Francisco Bay. "I can't hear you," she waved her hand in front of his eyes.

He grabbed her wrist, "Because I'm not talking to you," he dropped her hand before she could read him. "Chloe, life has got to be better than this. I don't remember the last time I laughed."

Chris's comment made Chloe laugh, "I do. That night we were at P3," she chuckled, "You were so drunk, man, that you fell through a chair."

Chris slowly turned his head to his cousin who was still smiling, "What are you talking about?"

Chloe's smile faded, "I guess it was a dream," she turned to look at Chris, but the look in his eyes told a different story. "But it wasn't a dream, was it?"

"It was a dream," he tried to shake the memory away.

"No, it wasn't," Chloe stood up. "You know what I'm talking about Chris, I see it in your eyes." She waved her hand to make Chris stand and grabbed him by the arm before he could protest. Chloe suddenly saw a vision of P3, where she and Chris were playing blind telekinetic darts in a room lit only by blue orbs and small fireballs. "How could we possibly be dreaming the exact same thing?"

Chris jerked his arm out of Chloe's hand, "Let me go," he mumbled.

She inched closer to him as Chris continued to shy away from her gaze, "You're having them, too. I know you are. You're not at the same risk I am, so you don't think it's a threat. But it is. You're still vulnerable, too." Chris didn't answer Chloe's accusation. "Last night, when I went into your room, you were having a nightmare. I took your hand, to try to wake you, and when I did I saw your dream. It felt like a memory, didn't it?"

"It doesn't mean anything," Chris's voice was once again icy.

"It does," Chloe crossed her legs and levitated above the bridge, "it does, and you know it."

Chris rolled his eyes and sat back down on the bridge. Chloe was right, he had been having nightmares for weeks. He had visions of Paige as a statue, the sisters defeating the Titans as Greek goddesses, of being turned into a spider demon, of cigars with Grandpa Victor, and a man named Gideon. The images had become so vibrant that there were nights he could not sleep, and other nights he did not want to wake up. Far too many of his dreams involved images of his mother, father and brother living together—happy—and as a family. He had no memory of what it meant to be a part of a real family other than those dreams. When he was awake all he could remember was his father's absence, his brother's decent, and his mother's heartbreak. "If you're right," Chris broke the silence, "and I'm not saying that you are. How do you intend to fix it?"

Chloe shook her head, "I don't know. That's why I'm going to see my dad."

He knew that's what she was going to say long before the words came out of her mouth. Chloe missed her father so much. She has always been daddy's little girl even with Cole shimmering in and out of dimensions. "I think that's wise."

"I am continually shocked," she laughed, "First Trey is ok with it and now you are. You know the world has gone to hell when the two of you agree. Maybe it's finally snowing in the hot place. What do you say I shimmer us down there and we find out?" she winked.

Chris finally smiled, "That will be our vacation for when you get back safely from your dad's. I've heard the underworld is nice nowadays. More demons topside, more room to run, play or ski, if you're right, down below."

Chloe punched him on the arm as she stood up, "That's the Chris I know and love." She then reached into the bag that was draped over her shoulder and pulled out six white roses, "I remember, too," she floated them into Chris's lap. They shared a look before he took her hand to orb them back to the forest.

-----

"We're not going to be able to reach you. What if we need to reach you?" Maggie's accent clinched her words.

"You'll be able to find me. You're always able to find me," Chloe stirred the bubbling concoction in front of her.

"You weren't traveling across dimensions before," Cooper sat on a log bench alongside the fire, "Plus we've always had Chris, the original On-star© for finding you."

"You'll find a way," Chloe dropped her last ingredient in with a small explosion. "Done," she coughed.

"Why are you even using a potion anyway? Why not shimmer?" Cooper huffed.

Chloe's eyes crossed as she measured out a precise amount of amber liquid into a bucket with a brush in it. She then approached the mirror that was standing next to the fire, "Because I can't," she smiled as she began painting the mixture onto the mirror, "If I shimmer out of this dimension it will alert all sorts of demons. Besides, this way I get to use my creative side," she splattered the remaining potion on the mirror as it glowed orange before flashing blue. A fiendish smile graced Chloe's lips, "Excellent."

"You do know precisely where Cole is?" Chloe's heart skipped upon hearing the voice. "You're not going to get lost?"

She turned into Trey, who was carrying her black cloak and bag to her, "I do know exactly where I am going. Dad told me. And I can sense him. No worries, remember? I might not be able to shimmer out, but I can walk out."

A silent figure lurked at the edge of the forest line. He never said a word, but watched as Chloe prepared for her departure, _Why am I letting you go? _He thought. _You're all that I left_.

Chloe turned her eyes over Trey's shoulder to Chris, _Because you don't have a choice. You know that I'll be back_, she looked him straight in the eyes as Trey hugged her tight. "He's the only one who can take better care of me than you," she whispered knowing Chris would be able to hear her as well as Trey.

_I know_, Chris thought at the same moment as Trey said it out loud, "But that doesn't make it any easier," Trey reluctantly let her go.

Chloe picked up her bag, "The portal is only good for seventy two hours—it's the equivalent of a weekend. I'll be back," she smiled, _I promise._

"See if Cole has anything fun to send back. The scepter he sent last time is incredible," Cooper stood smiling.

"Done. Love you all," Chloe raised her eye beyond the fire ring to Chris before walking through the mirror.

"Blessed be," Trey, Cooper and Maggie said together.

"Blessed be," Chris orbed away.


	6. Mad Hatter Defense

_After a hiatus that is much longer thanI realized, I'm trying to write again. I hope we're all able to get back into this. I want to develop the characters (future kids) more... so I'm going to try to work that in. Give you a little backstory on how they got to where they are and what prompted them going back to the past to begin with. Let me know what you think! -Abs_

-----

"Hello, Mr. Simmons. Paige Matthews, here. Do you remember having me in your Poli-Sci class, like, ages ago? Right, intro to law concepts. We'll you made a huge impression on me, and I saw that you are still practicing law. It just so happens that I have a little law problem that I would appreciate your advice on. No, sir, I have not been arrested…again…" Paige paced the conservatory.

Phoebe laughed. She had not told her sisters about her trying to contact Cole. It had been five days since she contacted him and she had yet to hear anything. She had found that her heart was beginning to harden with the distance. When Cole had first left, it was like losing him all over again—and she had no idea why. Cole had been vanquished on his 100th birthday, after what Paige had described, as a massive break-down and ridiculous attempt at changing the world to win Phoebe back—changing the world to one in which Paige did not exist and evil had taken over the manor. But what Phoebe remembered most was the loathing. The absolute disgust and nausea that accompanied seeing her ex-husband. "You mummified me for God's sake, Cole. Do you really think I am going to get over that? You're sick," she belittled him. "I'm mad," was Cole's response before he shimmered off. He was mad. "Mad as the Mad Hatter," she grumbled under her breath as she joined Paige in the conservatory.

"Mr. Simmons thinks I need the help for myself. He thinks that I am in trouble again," she was aggravated. Phoebe giggled. "It's not funny," Paige tossed a pillow from the loveseat at Phoebe's head.

"Well, did he offer to help anyway," Phoebe took the phone from Paige who was flinging it around, "Let me have this before you break something. We've lost enough phones and furniture to demon attacks. They don't need your help."

"He said he would be willing to if I gave him more details… and money. I don't even have a little money to give him," Paige sighed.

Phoebe contemplated whether or not to tell Paige about her spell when suddenly the choice was made for her.

"I have news," Cole appeared in between Phoebe and Paige in a blur of orange light.

"What the?" Paige stumbled backwards in shock.

"Sorry 'bout that Paige," Cole chuckled as he approached his love with a longing look. "Phoebe, I got your message. And I have news."

Piper walked into the kitchen with little Chris cradled in her arms, "Whoa!" she flung her wrist as a reflex. Cole brushed the little explosion off his right shoulder. "Sorry," she pulled Chris close to her, "still not used to seeing you back—and good."

"I was here for three weeks, Piper, and I thought we were all getting along," Cole took a step towards her.

Piper instinctively pulled Chris back, "Yes, and you've been gone for six months. It's given us some time to think," Wyatt orbed into the kitchen and immediately pushed his high chair across the floor, "Wyatt, wait for mommy," Piper handed Chris to Paige before helping her oldest get his breakfast.

"Us?" Cole turned to look directly into Phoebe's eyes. She wouldn't look at him. Cole cleared his throat, "I see. Well, I didn't come here to debate the past, but to help insure the future. I've been doing some research on Leo's case. And I'd like to help." Phoebe still couldn't lift her eyes to meet Cole's.

With a flip of his wrist, Cole produced a manila folder with "Leo Wyatt" written hastily across the tab. He walked over to the kitchen table, laid the folder down, and waved his hand over the tabletop. Piles of books appeared in a flash. "This is what I have been working on for the past few days. I haven't gotten much sleep, so excuse me if I ramble or don't make any sense. Firstly, this is completely unprecedented. There have been cases when magical beings have been stripped of their powers, memories, been recycled…but never erased entirely. And none of which was done by the elders to an elder regarding the death of another elder."

"You weren't kidding about the unprecedented then, were you?" Paige sat at the table in front of a large book titled, _Unusual Cases of Magical Law, 1801-1900._

"No," Cole took the folder from Piper, "but the most threatening one to Leo is not even the removal of his powers or his memories because we can recover a memory, and well, living without his powers…I think he can manage. Or you know, I'll give him some of mine," Cole laughed. No one else did, "I did mention I haven't slept much lately, right?"

"The threat, Cole?" Piper rapped her fingernails on the table.

"What?"

"Before you offered to give Leo some of your powers you were going to tell us what the most threatening scenario would be," Piper gritted her teeth.

"The biggest threat is that Leo is erased," Paige answered.

"Bingo," Cole pointed to her, "ten points for the red head."

Paige picked up her starkly brunette hair, "Not red for months, Cole."

He did a double take before chuckling to himself, "Right."

"Mad hatter," Paige mumbled under her breath to herself.

"Focus, people," Piper stood up as the fruit bowl in the middle of the table exploded causing Chris to cry. Wyatt picked up a piece of apple and stuck it in his mouth.

"I never wondered where Chris got that obstinate, 'kill demon 24/7' attitude from. Nope, not a minute," Phoebe shook her head.

Piper narrowed her eyes, "Paige or Cole, do either of you feel like explaining?"

Cole picked up where Paige left off, "Leo could be erased. He died in World War II…and stayed that way. He never became a whitelighter, he never saved the countless lives he has—including yours."

"So, why would the elders erase him? That would undo so many of the good things, the good-for-nothing-guys up there have actually accomplished," Piper interjected.

"There are different degrees of it. Depending upon the level of the crime. Erasing him from just a certain part of history, never accepting him as a whitelighter would be drastic. But we have to be prepared for the worst—cliché, but the best defense truly is a dynamite offense."

Piper couldn't speak. Thinking back over her life, she had always known Leo was there—even before he had met her. He had even confirmed knowing her before she was a witch, and he had loved her before he knew she existed. When she, Prue, and Phoebe traveled back in time to stop Phoebe's past evil self from resurrecting herself and her warlock lover, Leo had been there. Their souls were always together. Had always been destined to meet, fall in love, and have a family. But now? After all they had been through, could all be erased?

"There's my boys," Leo yawned coming into the kitchen, "Sorry honey," he kissed Piper on the cheek, "Long night." He glanced up and saw Cole and the stack of books, "Cole."

"He's here to help you, Leo," Phoebe explained, "I asked him to. He's a lawyer, he's an ex-demon, and he's magical."

"He's the best we've got," Paige sounded almost skeptical—like she had to convince herself as much as she had to convince the rest of her family.

"I'm the best, period," Cole smiled triumphantly.

-----

Phoebe kicked the punching bag repeatedly before pausing, sweat dripping from her brow. "I think I need a timeout," her voice floated through her memory, "Get up," Cole demanded, "Get up. No time outs. When you're fighting the source, you won't get any time outs. Demons value strength. You can't be weak, or you'll die." Phoebe blinked. "No weakness," she mumbled to herself. Taking a deep breath she began punching the bag, alternating with kicks. The bag swung away from her, but didn't swing back.

"Nice to see you still practice," Cole smiled around the edge of the bag before swinging it back towards her.

"A girl's gotta keep in shape somehow," Phoebe quipped catching the bag and gasping for a premonition.

It was a girl with brown hair and blue eyes practicing kicks on the bag with Cole holding it firmly in place, smiling at her. "Good job, princess," he gave her a pat on the back after she had finished. She smiled, "Thanks."

"What'd you see?" Cole handed Phoebe a towel.

Phoebe took a deep breath and wiped her brow. "A girl. A beautiful young girl," Phoebe walked around the basement, "in here, practicing martial arts," she looked to Cole who was leaning against the stair rail, "With you. You called her princess."

Cole nodded and sat down, patting the stair next to him indicating Phoebe to sit, "Kinda tall, brown hair, blue eyes. Conniving smile," Cole flashed Phoebe his signature half-smile with a wink.

"Just like that," Phoebe grinned, "How'd you know?"

"Dreams. I've been having a lot of dreams lately—all with her in them. Her name is Chloe. And I think she is our daughter."

"Our daughter," Phoebe let her voice wander. She remembered her premonition at Magic School, "I have a daughter."

"Yeah," Cole looked at his love, wishing she would return the look, "She seems like a pretty amazing kid. I can't wait to meet her."

"Me either," Phoebe looked back, but tore her gaze away before Cole read anything into it. She got up and started up the stairs, "so when did you start having prophetic dreams?" she asked indicating Cole follow her.

He rose and brushed off his slacks before making his way into the kitchen behind Phoebe, "I don't think they're prophetic. It's more like memories. Like it's already happened. Which is weird, because unless you've been hiding something from me, we don't have a daughter."

Phoebe gave a weak laugh, "I'm not hiding anything. A kid would be pretty hard to keep a secret." Then she remembered her own series of dreams—dreams from which she woke up in cold sweats, heart pounding in her ears. Dreams that didn't feel like premonitions, but memories yearning to escape. She decided to change the subject, "Before we can get to her future, we need to take care of Leo's future." She got up from the steps and went into the kitchen. Cole followed her. "Tell me more about what can happen. What can we expect?" She grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.

"I don't know," Cole answered candidly.

Phoebe started choking, "What? You were just telling us the possible scenarios before."

"Right, but I don't know what to expect. You asked me what we can expect."

Phoebe rolled her eyes at Cole while she took another sip and headed out of the room. "Come on," she waved at him to follow her.

"Right, ok then. I don't know what to expect. I've never been before an elder council. Demonic councils, trials here that felt like demonic councils… I assume it could be like any other trial. But that's not what we should be worried about—we need to be concerned about the judgment," Cole followed Phoebe to the stairs.

"Tell me more about that. Erasing him? There's no chance he can get away from this with a simple slap on the wrist is there?"

"I doubt that," Cole tentatively followed Phoebe to her bedroom before she waved him in. Phoebe went into her closet to change as Cole continued, "The best he could get would be having his memories erased and relocated, or his powers stripped. But erasing him—that could change everything."

Phoebe emerged from her closet with a robe on and towel over her arm, "Everything?"

"He never became a whitelighter—Piper would be dead, you would be dead, no Wyatt, no Chris. Countless innocents gone." Silence let the gravity of the situation sink in. "Or he could be recycled. No more Leo from here on out. And there's anything in between. Erased five years ago, ten years ago, thirty years ago."

"I get it," Phoebe took a deep breath, "Fill in Leo and Piper now that they have had some time to calm down. I'm going to take a shower," Phoebe left the room as Cole playfully followed, "Ah, no. You can't follow me anymore."

"Well, it was worth a try," the door shut in his face.

-----

Piper sat and watched as Chris sat up, on his own, and laughed gleefully at his brother who was simply stacking Legos©, "Chris, I hope you always find Wyatt that amazing," she smiled at her sons. Wyatt was oblivious to Chris's admiration and laughs. It was hard for Piper to imagine all the chaos that Big Chris had described in the future. One where Wyatt was no longer her precious, sweet boy, but a man. A man with unlimited power and thirst for more, such that he isolated and turned against his little brother. "Thank God, we thwarted that," she thought, only half-believing it. The ordeal with Gideon was still fresh on her mind. The man that Leo had idolized since becoming a whitelighter had become obsessed with the idea that her eldest son would be the destruction of the balance between good and evil. He therefore took it upon himself to fix it by trying to turn both Wyatt and Chris evil. All while she was in labor with Chris. It wasn't exactly the peaceful birthing experience she had prayed for, but then again, neither was Wyatt's. Maybe she wasn't meant to have a normal birthing experience. Maybe she wasn't meant to have a normal life. Since becoming a witch it had been Piper's single most passion to have a normal life, with a normal husband, and normal family. Yet all along the way it seemed she was destined for aberrations from her dreams. Not that she wasn't happy, she was happy! She couldn't help but smile at her beautiful sons even in the wake of Leo's impending trial. However, nothing could change her desire for normalcy.

Leo orbed into the room and sat at his wife's side. "Beautiful isn't it?" Leo watched his sons play. He ran his fingers through Piper's hair and she leaned back into his chest. "Cole was just reading some fairly convincing cases to me—all regarding self-defense. And we can't deny it was self-defense. There's witnesses."

"Right," she sighed, still admiring her boys.

"You're quiet. What are you thinking?"

"I don't want to lose you," she turned to look in his eyes, "but would it be so bad if they stripped your powers? Or you offered to let them strip your powers? Or retire? You could retire…never be a whitelighter again. And then we could be…"

"Normal," Leo finished her sentence.

They turned to their sons. Wyatt blinked and an army of Lego© men sprang to life and began to try to overtake his newly erected castle, "As normal as we can get around here," she finished with a smile.


	7. Blessings

"Hello, Mr. Simmons. Paige Matthews, here. Do you remember having me in your Poli-Sci class, like, ages ago? Right, intro to law concepts. We'll you made a huge impression on me, and I saw that you are still practicing law. It just so happens that I have a little law problem that I would appreciate your advice on. No, sir, I have not been arrested…again…" Paige paced the conservatory.

Phoebe laughed. She had not told her sisters about her trying to contact Cole. It had been five days since she contacted him and she had yet to hear anything. She had found that her heart was beginning to harden with the distance. When Cole had first left, it was like losing him all over again—and she had no idea why. Cole had been vanquished on his 100th birthday, after what Paige had described, as a massive break-down and ridiculous attempt at changing the world to win Phoebe back—changing the world to one in which Paige did not exist and evil had taken over the manor. But what Phoebe remembered most was the loathing. The absolute disgust and nausea that accompanied seeing her ex-husband. "You mummified me for God's sake, Cole. Do you really think I am going to get over that? You're sick," she belittled him. "I'm mad," was Cole's response before he shimmered off. He was mad. "Mad as the Mad Hatter," she grumbled under her breath as she joined Paige in the conservatory.

"Mr. Simmons thinks I need the help for myself. He thinks that I am in trouble again," she was aggravated. Phoebe giggled. "It's not funny," Paige tossed a pillow from the loveseat at Phoebe's head.

"Well, did he offer to help anyway," Phoebe took the phone from Paige who was flinging it around, "Let me have this before you break something. We've lost enough phones and furniture to demon attacks. They don't need your help."

"He said he would be willing to if I gave him more details… and money. I don't even have a little money to give him," Paige sighed.

Phoebe contemplated whether or not to tell Paige about her spell when suddenly the choice was made for her.

"I have news," Cole appeared in between Phoebe and Paige in a blur of orange light.

"What the?" Paige stumbled backwards in shock.

"Sorry 'bout that Paige," Cole chuckled as he approached his love with a longing look. "Phoebe, I got your message. And I have news."

Piper walked into the kitchen with little Chris cradled in her arms, "Whoa!" she flung her wrist as a reflex. Cole brushed the little explosion off his right shoulder. "Sorry," she pulled Chris close to her, "still not used to seeing you back—and good."

"I was here for three weeks, Piper, and I thought we were all getting along," Cole took a step towards her.

Piper instinctively pulled Chris back, "Yes, and you've been gone for six months. It's given us some time to think," Wyatt orbed into the kitchen and immediately pushed his high chair across the floor, "Wyatt, wait for mommy," Piper handed Chris to Paige before helping her oldest get his breakfast.

"Us?" Cole turned to look directly into Phoebe's eyes. She wouldn't look at him. Cole cleared his throat, "I see. Well, I didn't come here to debate the past, but to help insure the future. I've been doing some research on Leo's case. And I'd like to help." Phoebe still couldn't lift her eyes to meet Cole's.

With a flip of his wrist, Cole produced a manila folder with "Leo Wyatt" written hastily across the tab. He walked over to the kitchen table, laid the folder down, and waved his hand over the tabletop. Piles of books appeared in a flash. "This is what I have been working on for the past few days. I haven't gotten much sleep, so excuse me if I ramble or don't make any sense. Firstly, this is completely unprecedented. There have been cases when magical beings have been stripped of their powers, memories, been recycled…but never erased entirely. And none of which was done by the elders to an elder regarding the death of another elder."

"You weren't kidding about the unprecedented then, were you?" Paige sat at the table in front of a large book titled, _Unusual Cases of Magical Law, 1801-1900._

"No," Cole took the folder from Piper, "but the most threatening one to Leo is not even the removal of his powers or his memories because we can recover a memory, and well, living without his powers…I think he can manage. Or you know, I'll give him some of mine," Cole laughed. No one else did, "I did mention I haven't slept much lately, right?"

"The threat, Cole?" Piper rapped her fingernails on the table.

"What?"

"Before you offered to give Leo some of your powers you were going to tell us what the most threatening scenario would be," Piper gritted her teeth.

"The biggest threat is that Leo is erased," Paige answered.

"Bingo," Cole pointed to her, "ten points for the red head."

Paige picked up her starkly brunette hair, "Not red for months, Cole."

He did a double take before chuckling to himself, "Right."

"Mad hatter," Paige mumbled under her breath to herself.

"Focus, people," Piper stood up as the fruit bowl in the middle of the table exploded causing Chris to cry. Wyatt picked up a piece of apple and stuck it in his mouth.

"I never wondered where Chris got that obstinate, 'kill demon 24/7' attitude from. Nope, not a minute," Phoebe shook her head.

Piper narrowed her eyes, "Paige or Cole, do either of you feel like explaining?"

Cole picked up where Paige left off, "Leo could be erased. He died in World War II…and stayed that way. He never became a whitelighter, he never saved the countless lives he has—including yours."

"So, why would the elders erase him? That would undo so many of the good things, the good-for-nothing-guys up there have actually accomplished," Piper interjected.

"There are different degrees of it. Depending upon the level of the crime. Erasing him from just a certain part of history, never accepting him as a whitelighter would be drastic. But we have to be prepared for the worst—cliché, but the best defense truly is a dynamite offense."

Piper couldn't speak. Thinking back over her life, she had always known Leo was there—even before he had met her. He had even confirmed knowing her before she was a witch, and he had loved her before he knew she existed. When she, Prue, and Phoebe traveled back in time to stop Phoebe's past evil self from resurrecting herself and her warlock lover, Leo had been there. Their souls were always together. Had always been destined to meet, fall in love, and have a family. But now? After all they had been through, could all be erased?

"There's my boys," Leo yawned coming into the kitchen, "Sorry honey," he kissed Piper on the cheek, "Long night." He glanced up and saw Cole and the stack of books, "Cole."

"He's here to help you, Leo," Phoebe explained, "I asked him to. He's a lawyer, he's an ex-demon, and he's magical."

"He's the best we've got," Paige sounded almost skeptical—like she had to convince herself as much as she had to convince the rest of her family.

"I'm the best, period," Cole smiled triumphantly.

-----

Phoebe kicked the punching bag repeatedly before pausing, sweat dripping from her brow. "I think I need a timeout," her voice floated through her memory, "Get up," Cole demanded, "Get up. No time outs. When you're fighting the source, you won't get any time outs. Demons value strength. You can't be weak, or you'll die." Phoebe blinked. "No weakness," she mumbled to herself. Taking a deep breath she began punching the bag, alternating with kicks. The bag swung away from her, but didn't swing back.

"Nice to see you still practice," Cole smiled around the edge of the bag before swinging it back towards her.

"A girl's gotta keep in shape somehow," Phoebe quipped catching the bag and gasping for a premonition.

It was a girl with brown hair and blue eyes practicing kicks on the bag with Cole holding it firmly in place, smiling at her. "Good job, princess," he gave her a pat on the back after she had finished. She smiled, "Thanks."

"What'd you see?" Cole handed Phoebe a towel.

Phoebe took a deep breath and wiped her brow. "A girl. A beautiful young girl," Phoebe walked around the basement, "in here, practicing martial arts," she looked to Cole who was leaning against the stair rail, "With you. You called her princess."

Cole nodded and sat down, patting the stair next to him indicating Phoebe to sit, "Kinda tall, brown hair, blue eyes. Conniving smile," Cole flashed Phoebe his signature half-smile with a wink.

"Just like that," Phoebe grinned, "How'd you know?"

"Dreams. I've been having a lot of dreams lately—all with her in them. Her name is Chloe. And I think she is our daughter."

"Our daughter," Phoebe let her voice wander. She remembered her premonition at Magic School, "I have a daughter."

"Yeah," Cole looked at his love, wishing she would return the look, "She seems like a pretty amazing kid. I can't wait to meet her."

"Me either," Phoebe looked back, but tore her gaze away before Cole read anything into it. She got up and started up the stairs, "so when did you start having prophetic dreams?" she asked indicating Cole follow her.

He rose and brushed off his slacks before making his way into the kitchen behind Phoebe, "I don't think they're prophetic. It's more like memories. Like it's already happened. Which is weird, because unless you've been hiding something from me, we don't have a daughter."

Phoebe gave a weak laugh, "I'm not hiding anything. A kid would be pretty hard to keep a secret." Then she remembered her own series of dreams—dreams from which she woke up in cold sweats, heart pounding in her ears. Dreams that didn't feel like premonitions, but memories yearning to escape. She decided to change the subject, "Before we can get to her future, we need to take care of Leo's future." She got up from the steps and went into the kitchen. Cole followed her. "Tell me more about what can happen. What can we expect?" She grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.

"I don't know," Cole answered candidly.

Phoebe started choking, "What? You were just telling us the possible scenarios before."

"Right, but I don't know what to expect. You asked me what we can expect."

Phoebe rolled her eyes at Cole while she took another sip and headed out of the room. "Come on," she waved at him to follow her.

"Right, ok then. I don't know what to expect. I've never been before an elder council. Demonic councils, trials here that felt like demonic councils… I assume it could be like any other trial. But that's not what we should be worried about—we need to be concerned about the judgment," Cole followed Phoebe to the stairs.

"Tell me more about that. Erasing him? There's no chance he can get away from this with a simple slap on the wrist is there?"

"I doubt that," Cole tentatively followed Phoebe to her bedroom before she waved him in. Phoebe went into her closet to change as Cole continued, "The best he could get would be having his memories erased and relocated, or his powers stripped. But erasing him—that could change everything."

Phoebe emerged from her closet with a robe on and towel over her arm, "Everything?"

"He never became a whitelighter—Piper would be dead, you would be dead, no Wyatt, no Chris. Countless innocents gone." Silence let the gravity of the situation sink in. "Or he could be recycled. No more Leo from here on out. And there's anything in between. Erased five years ago, ten years ago, thirty years ago."

"I get it," Phoebe took a deep breath, "Fill in Leo and Piper now that they have had some time to calm down. I'm going to take a shower," Phoebe left the room as Cole playfully followed, "Ah, no. You can't follow me anymore."

"Well, it was worth a try," the door shut in his face.

-----

Piper sat and watched as Chris sat up, on his own, and laughed gleefully at his brother who was simply stacking Legos©, "Chris, I hope you always find Wyatt that amazing," she smiled at her sons. Wyatt was oblivious to Chris's admiration and laughs. It was hard for Piper to imagine all the chaos that Big Chris had described in the future. One where Wyatt was no longer her precious, sweet boy, but a man. A man with unlimited power and thirst for more, such that he isolated and turned against his little brother. "Thank God, we thwarted that," she thought, only half-believing it. The ordeal with Gideon was still fresh on her mind. The man that Leo had idolized since becoming a whitelighter had become obsessed with the idea that her eldest son would be the destruction of the balance between good and evil. He therefore took it upon himself to fix it by trying to turn both Wyatt and Chris evil. All while she was in labor with Chris. It wasn't exactly the peaceful birthing experience she had prayed for, but then again, neither was Wyatt's. Maybe she wasn't meant to have a normal birthing experience. Maybe she wasn't meant to have a normal life. Since becoming a witch it had been Piper's single most passion to have a normal life, with a normal husband, and normal family. Yet all along the way it seemed she was destined for aberrations from her dreams. Not that she wasn't happy, she was happy! She couldn't help but smile at her beautiful sons even in the wake of Leo's impending trial. However, nothing could change her desire for normalcy.

Leo orbed into the room and sat at his wife's side. "Beautiful isn't it?" Leo watched his sons play. He ran his fingers through Piper's hair and she leaned back into his chest. "Cole was just reading some fairly convincing cases to me—all regarding self-defense. And we can't deny it was self-defense. There's witnesses."

"Right," she sighed, still admiring her boys.

"You're quiet. What are you thinking?"

"I don't want to lose you," she turned to look in his eyes, "but would it be so bad if they stripped your powers? Or you offered to let them strip your powers? Or retire? You could retire…never be a whitelighter again. And then we could be…"

"Normal," Leo finished her sentence.

They turned to their sons. Wyatt blinked and an army of Lego© men sprang to life and began to try to overtake his newly erected castle, "As normal as we can get around here," she finished with a smile. Chloe tossed restlessly in her sleep—rocked by a memory she didn't know she had.

"I'm going to public school! Why? Have I been bad?" Chloe looked between her mother and father, dropping her new schedule on the floor. Her father smiled, but her mother's face fell. "Is it because I threw the clock across the room? I told you I was sorry, I was motioning for the vase. Piper wanted me to fill it, and I know I shouldn't have used magic, but," Phoebe interrupted her daughter by putting her hand on her shoulder.

"No, sweetie, it's not punishment for throwing the clock. Wyatt and Leo fixed it…again. It's amazing that clock still works," Phoebe added as a second thought.

"Daddy," Chloe pulled away and rushed to Cole, "You love me. Why am I going to public school?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes as Cole chuckled, "Wyatt and Chris both go to public school. We want you to know what it's like to be in a normal school, with non-magical kids. They enjoy it"

Chloe now pulled away from him, and with the disdain only a fourteen year old could manage, "Chris does because he was always getting picked on. Wyatt hates it."

"Well, good thing he's getting ready to graduate then." Phoebe reached for Chloe's arm as she wretched away and stormed out of her parents' room. "Chloe, wait!" she didn't turn around, "Where is she going?"

"Let her go," Cole pulled his wife to his chest, "You know where she's going. She'll be ok. He never lets anything happen to her."

Chloe paced the tallest tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, appearing to talk to herself, "I love magic school. I love being magical. And sooner or later my powers have got to progress, what happens then? I don't even know what it will be? I mean, just look at all the powers my dad has. One of them is bound to come out in me sooner or later. I can't believe this," she collapsed into a ball.

Next to her, there was a disturbance in the air with a sudden, and momentary, blur of the background—as if a translucent shadow had passed by. A rock that had been sitting across from Chloe flew by her and through a pillar, "Excellent power," a male voice came from the direction of the pillar.

"Are you even hearing me?" Chloe whined into her lap.

"Hearing, yes, listening, not really," the voice responded.

Chloe waved her hand at the pillar and a scream followed before orbs reappeared in front of her, "Ok, you want me to tell you what I think?" Chris asked annoyed.

She picked up her head, rested her chin on her knees and waving her hand began to juggle the remaining rocks on the pillar, "Yes. This sucks."

Chris noticed the sadness in his cousin's eyes, "You're just going to miss that boy. What's his name? Alex?" Chloe buried her head back in her hands and the rocks fell, "You'll get over him. He doesn't have the talent that you do," Chris tried to comfort her.

She knew he was trying to help, but Chris was truly inept at providing comfort to a broken-hearted teenager. "I think he liked me."

Chris rolled his eyes that didn't go without Chloe noticing, "You're fourteen, Chloe. You're too young to date," at which time the rocks Chloe had been juggling flew toward the nearest pillar with a loud _thwang_, as the rock hit the metal. "You are, no arguing. And you're only going into the ninth grade. You've got plenty of time for relationships."

"This coming from the seventeen year-old virgin!" she stood up quickly.

"How'd you?" Chris startled and added, "You better not have!"

"You said it, yourself, I'm only fourteen. Gross!" she shimmered out.

"Women," Chris sighed orbing to follow her.

"Chloe, honey, good to see you," Piper turned to see her niece shimmer into the kitchen and grab a peach out of the fruit bowl.

"This is all your fault," Chloe emphasized your, and took a big bite out of the peach before going into the conservatory.

Piper finished drying her hands as Chris orbed into the kitchen and opened the cabinet to get a glass, "Hey babe," she kissed him on the cheek. "What's up with Chloe?" she tilted her head towards the conservatory where Chloe was flipping through a _Glamour_ magazine.

"Truth hit her. Cole and Phoebe told her she has to go to public school. Plus there's this boy…" Chris trailed off as he took a long sip of his water, "I just don't get you… women…" he said absently as he walked out of the room after returning his mother's kiss on the cheek.

Piper picked a napkin up off the counter and made her way to the conservatory, "Truce," she waved the napkin as Chloe looked up from her magazine.

"This says if I line my lips, and put gloss over the top of my lipstick, it will make my lips look more pouty and kissable. What do you think?" she pursed her lips.

"That your lips are perfectly pouty, and you don't need to worry if they're kissable right now." Piper sat down next to her, and slowly moved the magazine out of her lap, remembering the volatile nature of being a fourteen year old girl. "You know, I'm glad I got two boys. I had a lot of 'girl' problems growing up that I don't know if I could deal with again. I was scrawny and awkward. I swear I didn't outgrow it until I was twenty-five," she laughed, "But you," Piper picked up Chloe's chin, "are beautiful. You have your father's smile and sense of presence, your mother's charisma and grace; you are not going to have any problems making new friends." Chloe looked up at Piper as if she was astounded Piper knew what the real problem was. "You're shocked that I know you're scared you won't make any friends? I'm a girl, too, remember? You're going to be fine."

She shook her head, "I don't know. I've had the same friends forever, Piper. I don't want to go to a normal school. I'm not normal. I don't want to be normal," she looked pleading into Piper's eyes. "I don't care if my life isn't normal. If I stay at magic school, I am normal." She got up and wrapped the peach pit in Piper's napkin of surrender, "My parents have shown me how special it is to be magical, and I like it. Just like Wyatt. Thanks for the talk and the peach," Chloe feigned a smile before shimmering away.

"Maybe she's right," Piper sighed.

"About what?" Leo walked into the room.

"That having a 'normal' life isn't for everyone. Isn't for her."

"Remember Phoebe's premonition, Piper? They will all be safer here, together. You know that together they will have the power of three at some level," Leo concluded picking up his wife's hand.

Piper's eyes watered. She did remember Phoebe's premonition. Three months ago Phoebe had picked up Chris's report card, straight A's, a definite and substantial improvement from magic school. When she did, she saw something. A flash. A flash of light, with the three cousins standing together in front of a big black cloud of smoke. Phoebe could not distinguish a face, but she saw that Wyatt, Chris, and Chloe were holding hands and chanting, surrounded in a white light warding off the darkness, and Charlotte—Paige's daughter—nowhere to be seen. When the darkness cleared, Chloe and Chris were standing alone, and Wyatt had his back to them. Between them lay Phoebe, Piper, and Paige, un-moving, face down in a puddle of an unknown liquid. Leo's grip tightened on Piper's hand and brought her back from the memory, "It doesn't mean things will change. What if they're being together in school is what causes this? We don't know that if Chloe stayed at magic school things would be different."

"We never know with the premonitions," Leo caressed her face and wiped away her tears, "we can only hope we are doing the right thing. Like always. Chloe will get used to being in public school. Chris will be there. That will help. And you know Wyatt will look out for her."

"Wyatt will be a senior, Chris will be a junior, and she will be a freshman. They'll be 'too cool' for her," Piper giggled.

Leo smiled at hearing Piper giggling once more, "You know Chris loves her so much, she's his number two girl behind you," he swung her hands, "He won't be too cool for her—and neither will Wyatt."

Piper stood up determined, "I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner," she rushed up the stairs and nearly bumped Wyatt down the stairs.

"Where's the fire, mom?" he smiled.

"Apparently under her feet," Leo patted his oldest on the shoulder, "When you see Chloe at school, you'll be nice to her, right?"

"Of course, I will," Wyatt looked stunned, "if I'm not, she might jinx me in my sleep—that kid's got a nasty temper. Are we sure she's all good?" he winked.

"She can touch the book," Leo returned the gesture, "of course it has been tricked before," he turned to follow Wyatt back downstairs. "You've enjoyed public school, right?"

Wyatt was going to the conservatory with his U.S. History book tucked under his arm, "It's different. But it's a great way to interact with people. Learn more about the innocents I'm meant to protect. I've even met some future whitelighteres…they don't know that of course. As much as I enjoyed magic school while I was there, I've accepted going to public school."

"Have you ever thought about going into politics?" Leo pulled up the chair next to Wyatt, "you didn't answer my question," he explained as Wyatt looked at him confused, "You went around the answer, but didn't give it to me straight."

"So we're playing it straight, huh?" Wyatt smiled flipping through the history book, "I've enjoyed it, dad. But I would have enjoyed magic school, too." He stopped on a chapter and turned the book to his dad, "Witches have never been normal, and never will. I just hope we don't ever have to live in fear again. Fear of this. Fear of persecution because of who we are. I am proud of who I am. And so is Chloe."

Leo took the book from Wyatt's lap. The Salem witch trials. Witches, innocents, whitelighters, and demons were all persecuted—no one could tell the difference. The air was tainted with fear of the supernatural and anyone affiliated with it. The upheaval forced magical and non-magical beings into hiding for decades. And ever since then, magic has been protected, not permitted to be exposed for fear of retribution—not just by the public, but the powers that be within the magical world. Neither good nor bad magic could be exposed…all as a result of the Salem witch trials.

"Magic was practiced freely up until then," Wyatt took the book back, "witches were considered healers and wise. People would come to them for their counsel and protection against the demons—that they believed and knew to exist. The world has become too fast and too jaded for us. I don't know why we even bother protecting them sometimes."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing—his eldest son, one of the greatest forces of good magic in the world was looking at innocents with cynicism. Cynicism that he never expected to hear from the mouth of a whitelighter, "What are you saying, Wyatt?"

"That sometimes…sometimes I don't feel like being protector of the innocent. They aren't so innocent any more, dad. And they don't think that they need us…so maybe they don't."

"Wyatt," Leo's eyes were wide, "but what you were just saying about being in school with them…"

"Where do you think I've learned it all?" he shut the book, "I'm going to go talk to Chloe. Chris told me she's joining us at school this year. Don't worry, I'll give her the pep talk. I just knew I could be honest with you," he patted Leo's shoulder before orbing away.

Leo stayed in the conservatory, completely dejected and astonished by Wyatt's cynical outlook.

"Tell me again why you called me and Phoebe here," Paige asked Piper who still had a fanatically excited look on her face. "I've left Charlotte with her father, and it makes me nervous. I'm afraid I'll come home and her hair will be green again," Paige rolled her eyes.

"And why you needed my high school class ring… and yours, Piper, what's going on?" Phoebe placed the rings back on the ritual table.

Piper raced between cabinets of potion ingredients, the Book of Shadows, and the ritual trunk talking excitedly, "Chloe is panicked about going to public school because she is afraid she'll be alone and not make any friends, right?"

"Right," Phoebe nodded.

"And who does she trust more than anyone else?" Piper stopped in front of her middle sister and unloaded her arms.

"Chris," Phoebe answered.

"Right," Piper grabbed Phoebe's and Paige's arm and pulled them onto the floor with her, "So, we're going to bless these rings so that they will always know where the other one is, will be able to read their thoughts, when invited of course, and most importantly…will feel safe."

"What makes you think either of them will go for that?" Paige asked, picking up Piper's and Phoebe's high school class rings and examining them and noticing the dates of 1992 and 1995, "Man, we're old."

Piper snatched them back, "Because I know Chris, he'll do anything to protect Chloe."

"And I know Chloe," Phoebe smiled mischievously taking her ring from Piper, "She'll think it's a good way to get the inside on what Chris does in his spare time…it'll be a new game to her." Piper looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "It's true. The kid lives to spy on him. It's all out of love. I've been there. I teach her everything I know about spying," Phoebe placed her ring in the basin.

Placing her ring in the basin, too, Piper handed her sisters a copy of the spell, a satchel of potion ingredients, and then lit the candle beneath the basin. "Ready?"

"Sure," Paige grabbed her sisters' hands.

"Sounds like fun," Phoebe did the same.

"Powers of the sisters rise, to call forth magical ties. To link our children's hearts and minds, Chris and Chloe together we bind," they rhymed together.

"To grant wisdom with the power of sage, sets the minds free from their cage," Phoebe dropped in a handful of sage.

"To see when others cannot, to find each other and belie the plot, we give them the precious sight, of finding the other's soul-born light," Paige added peppermint oil.

"The Triquetra now added to protect our progeny, to keep them safe and in harmony," Piper took a sprig of rosemary and lit it with the candle burning below the basin and began drawing the Triquetra in the smoke. Phoebe and Paige also light lavender and chamomile respectively and also began drawing the Triquetra as they chanted with Piper, "With all the hope and power our magic brings, we now together bless these rings." Piper blew out her sprig as Phoebe and Paige emulated. The smoke cleared to reveal an aromatic bubbling brew, with the glowing gold rings in the center. Picking up the tongs beside her, Piper gently removed the rings and placed them on the table. Immediately, she noticed they had changed, and were now crested with the Triquetra on the top instead of hers and Phoebe's high school insignia.

"Good job," Paige picked up one the now cooled rings, "I think it worked, Piper."

Piper smiled, "Let's see, put it on."

Paige looked perplexed, "I thought we blessed them for Chris and Chloe only."

"We'll find out," Piper slid the ring on her finger as Paige did the same.

"What am I thinking? I don't have anything to think," Paige's mind raced, "I hope my daughter doesn't have green hair from a potion gone wrong that her father once again did not properly supervise."

"You fixed it last time," Piper spoke aloud, reveling in the success of her spell, "It won't be a problem."

Paige beamed, "It worked!"

Phoebe took her ring off Paige's hand, "Let's give them to the kids tomorrow morning at breakfast. Chloe wants to go to school with Chris and Wyatt. They will be driving, right? No orbing?"

"Of course," Piper smiled, "they're your normal, everyday, high schoolers."


	8. Through the Looking Glass

_This chapter's long. But I couldn't find a place that I felt I could interrupt it. I hope you enjoy it! I'm open to any ideas, criticism, etc that you have… Abs_

Chloe fell head first into water. She quickly swam to the surface, where catching her breath, she turned around to see what she had stepped out of—a huge waterfall towered over her. She treaded water and looked around her. She was in a pool that led further down to a river, with forest on either side. Spitting out a mouth full of water, she swam to the side and waded out before collapsing on the bank. Her heart was pounding, her senses were spinning, and she had no idea what she had just encountered. Upon entering the mirror she was swept into a vortex of images, memories, smells, sounds, tastes and even touch. It was like the whole world had been collapsed into a carnival of the senses. She had lived a whole series of conversations, memories and emotions, some of which couldn't possibly be hers. But they were so real! She could feel the sunshine on her cheeks in the conservatory. She could smell the aroma of the potion her mom and aunts were brewing. She could feel Wyatt's anger and Leo's pain and confusion. It was all so real it made her sick to her stomach. "Dad, where the hell are you? What is this place?" she asked while sluggishly rolling over onto her stomach to push herself up.

She sat still listening to the sounds of the birds and the waterfall while her breathing and pulse slowed to their normal rates. The sunlight danced through the tree branches and made the sand she was sitting on look like a bed of diamonds—for all she knew, it could be a bed of diamonds. Tracing her finger through the sand, "What have I gotten myself into?" she asked no one in particular. Chloe had never been to visit Cole here before. He had told her, that if she ever needed him, she would be able to find him. And he had instructed that it was best to use a mirror—although he never explained why.

Feeling that her strength was back, Chloe collected her belongings and got to her feet. She didn't know how she was going to find Cole, she was just going to start walking until it made sense. Cole had explained to her that they were connected—and that her power of telepathy would draw her to him. She had been able to sense her father's presence for as long as she could remember, but she had never been able to just shimmer or think of him and find him. "Hopefully, he'll just sense and find me," she spoke aloud again, "and I'm talking to myself because it makes me feel less scared." She started walking through the forest, following the setting sun.

There were no animals. Sure, she could hear the birds singing, but she never saw one. There were no squirrels, no rabbits, no deer. She encountered nothing. But she kept walking. "Eventually I'll have to come across something," she mumbled trying to convince herself. So she started humming. "At least whenI humI won't bedeafened by the silence," she thought pushing back a tree branch.

Cole had lived here for the past four years. After the Charmed Ones' defeat and demise, and Cole's involvement in the fight, the situation in the real world had fallen apart. The battle that was still raging, the same in which Chris and Chloe now fought, and had begun seven years ago when Chloe was fourteen and freshman in high school. The sisters had been anticipating it for years. They had defeated the Source, twice counting Cole, and the demonic world had been turned upside-down. Factions were waging wars against each other, mortals, and witches trying to prove who was the strongest and most evil to overtake the thrown as The Source. Mostly they were kept under control, if not by the forces of good then by each other—until a new power emerged. A power that no one could identify or had never been reported being seen, but everyone mortal or magical alike feared.

What ended up surfacing was a series of hieroglyphs describing a source of evil that could only be likened to have originated with the devil himself, with Biblical implications of mayhem and fear. The hieroglyphs were later found to be translated in Greek writings in the early _AD_. The group was called the _κακό,_ or simply "evil." In the magical world, the _κακό_ was one of the first organized factions of evil in the underworld—encompassing members of all different demonic varieties—from vampires, banshees, and warlocks to demons unnamed. It had been thought to have been decimated during the crusades, when unbeknownst to the Christian crusaders, the war against good and evil expanded far beyond the Holy Land. World wide, good had the upper hand and evil was beginning to fall. No more of the identifying amulets or athames were found, no more victims with the tattoo on their forehead. They were gone.

Until now.

When Cole abandoned the Avatars neutral position and very openly fought on the side of good, he was ostracized. Fortunately, his copious powers had kept him safe. He was still indestructible, and mostly immortal—the years of his life were beginning to show, with the weight of all he had seen and done heavy on his mind. Having lost the love of his life and fearing for the life of his daughter, Cole had once again tried to reverse time so that only he could remember what had happened to thwart the sisters' deaths and mistakes. However, he was caught and exiled. He had "interfered too much" and was now going to have to suffer—living in a space outside of time, outside of reality, and alone for eternity—thus leaving his daughter alone as well.

Cole still had the power to project his thoughts, and often visited his daughter in her dreams, or in the reflection in a mirror or on the water, or in the smile of a stranger. Still, Chloe hadn't felt her dad hug her since she was seventeen and he was taken away. It was that night that she joined Wyatt. And she joined the resurrected κακό, playing to her strengths and her powers of deception and perception. A double agent with a passion to kill those she felt had betrayed and stolen her family.

Chloe stopped and realized that the sun was lower in the sky—at least the sun that she had been following was lower in the sky. She had realized after several minutes walking that although she was following the sun, there was a glint of light to her right that would catch her eye every so often. Stopping in a clearing, she realized there was another sun to the north, presuming the sun she was following was to the west. She had chosen to trudge on following her setting sun, convinced that since it was the first one she saw, it should be the right one. "Trust your instincts, trust your heart," her mother had always told her, "Your power of telepathy is tied to your intuition and perception. It will guide you." And intuition told her that she was walking in the right direction.

Weariness, dehydration, and hunger were starting to wane her strength, so Chloe sat on the ground, tossing her cloak and bag aside. "DAD! I'm here! Come find me! Daddy!" she yelled as loud as she could. A few birds flew away. No one answered. Dejected she closed her eyes, breathed deeply in through her nose and out through her mouth, and tried to center her thoughts and quiet her nerves. Chloe adopted a meditative pose and focused on Cole. "You'll always be able to find me," he'd said. "Trust your instincts," Phoebe had counseled. Suddenly Chloe saw an image of Cole, sitting alone in a valley in front of a fire, watching the flames dance as the suns set over each shoulder respectively. He was smiling at her, and he waved, "I've been waiting for you."

Chloe opened her eyes and she was sitting directly across the fire from her father. She jumped up and looked around. The forest that she been wandering in for hours was now several yards behind her. The valley was open, and beautiful, with a river meandering through it and a small house to her right. But the most amazing sight Chloe beheld was directly in front of her, with his arms open and tears in his eyes, "Dad," she gasped and ran into his arms. "You found me," she rested her head of his chest, afraid to pull away, afraid it was all a dream.

"No, you found me," Cole corrected kissing the top of his daughter's head.

A tear fell on Chloe's head. She saw her mom walking into her father's study as he typed away on the computer. He had once again become a lawyer for the great city of San Francisco—funny how no one had remembered him or his previous positions. She turned his chair around and sat in his lap. Kissing him sweetly and gently on the lips, she pulled away. "Hmm," Cole had sighed, "is that an invitation?"

"Nope," Phoebe played with the hair behind his left ear, "it's an announcement. You're going to be a daddy."

Cole said nothing, he looked into Phoebe's eyes which were alight with excitement and anticipation. "I'm, I'm going to be a daddy?"

"Yeah, a daddy… of a good, powerful, baby girl," Phoebe continued to play with his hair.

Cole quickly pulled Phoebe into a passionate and deep kiss. Overtaking her senses with his passion and delight, "I'm going to be a daddy," he repeated.

Chloe opened her eyes, and backed away from her father's chest, but took his hand—afraid of letting go completely. "You bought me Eddy Bear before I was born. Before you ever saw me?" she teased.

"Reading me again?" Cole spun her under his arm as though they were dancing, "Must have my guard down."

"I still have that bear. He's on my bed," Chloe smiled. And paused, "You said, I found you. How'd I find you?"

"You haven't noticed?" Cole's eyes sparkled, "Your powers are amplified here. I told you that you would be able to find me. You had to trust your abilities, and all you had to do was look. You were just wandering around before, not thinking, not focusing. It wasn't until you were still and quiet did you find me. Come on, let's go inside."

Chloe followed Cole inside the house. It was well-furnished, and surprisingly modern. Chloe had thought that a world void of grocery stores, malls, cars, and electricity would produce a barren home life. She was very wrong. "There's food in here. And I think I've seen that sofa in a store window—in one of the less war-torn cities, that is. How'd you get all this stuff."

"I'm never in need," Cole said grudgingly, "it all appears. I think, 'hmm, a chocolate milk shake would be nice,' and _poof_, there it is," he snapped, "I don't know if it's my powers amplified or the Avatar's idea of hell."

"This is hell?" Chloe asked shocked.

"It's not heaven," Cole sighed, "I don't have to work for anything. I have every earthly position a man could want, and all the time to enjoy it. But I don't have freedom, because I'm stuck here against my will. I don't get a sense of accomplishment because everything is done for me. And I'm alone. I'm away from all I love because I'm away from you and…" he couldn't say Phoebe's name. "Well, I take that back," he turned after watching Chloe's eyes fall, "I'm not alone, I have Odin."

"O-who?"

"Odin. You'll meet him. He's an ogre that unknowingly banished himself here. All of his tribe perished centuries ago. He thought he was completely alone, and in his grief somehow woke up here. He doesn't know there are still ogres in the world, and I don't have the heart to tell him," Cole began pulling food items out of the fridge. "Dinner?"

"Please!" Chloe surprised herself with her fervor.

"Alright then," Cole raised his eyebrows as Chloe blushed.

Chloe dropped her fork on her plate, "That was delicious, dad, I didn't know you knew how to cook."

"I didn't," Cole got up from the table and took his and Chloe's plates to the sink, "I get all the food I need, but I have to cook it. Another reason I think this is some sort of twisted hell dimension."

Standing from the table, Chloe's knees wobbled, "Whoa," she tripped into the table, "I think that wine is getting to me," she kidded. She took a couple more steps towards Cole, who wouldn't make eye contact with her, "I've never considered myself a light-weight," she steadied herself on the counter before falling back.

Cole stepped behind Chloe and caught her before she hit the ground. He lifted her off her feet and into his arms before walking into one of the bedrooms. Gently laying her in the bed, tucking her in, he kissed her forehead, "Sorry my princess. I had to do it. It's why you're here, and I'm here to help you." He turned off the light before sitting in the recliner in the corner of the bedroom—watching his little girl sleep.

-----

"Please read chapter 15 beforetomorrow. We're talking about cell division and reproduction in single cell organisms. It would be nice if you had an idea of what the lecture is about before hand. Lab will begin promptly at 3:15 this afternoon, do not be late," the bell rang, "Class dismissed."

Chloe shut her notebook and Biology book, crammed them in her bag, and did a series of side steps reminiscent of a line-dance to get out of the classroom. Physical contact with others had become painful. Her powers were progressing and whenever she touched someone she was thrown into a vision—blurred images, and muted voices—all causing her head to pound. She had begged her mother not to make her come to school today, butPhoebe told her she had to learn to control it…and she wasn't missing school to do so. Instead, Chloe spent the day avoiding people and making herself appear more reclusive to the general population than she already was.

Barely avoiding touching her neighbor's arm, Chloe finally got her locker combination to work. She shoved her Biology books in and pulled out Algebra, "I hate math," she mumbled to herself.

"If you ask me, freshman biology is the real demon," a male voice wafted through her locker door.

_Interesting choice of words, _she thought as she stood on her tip toes to see through the cracks,not recognizing the face, "It's my favorite class," she shut the door, "It fascinates me," Chloe pulled her books close, arms and hands tight to her body.

"That's the way to make a first impression," the guy blushed, "I'm…" he held out his hand in introduction, but Chloe just smiled and turned away. Her new gentlemen friend followed her, "Um, Chloe Halliwell, right?"

Chloe stopped and looked at him more closely, "Have we met?" she was captivated by his brilliant blue eyes and stunning hair color—his eyeswere almost violet the color was so deep, and his hairso blonde it was almost white"You look oddly familiar."

"I get that, a lot" he nodded his head, "I know your brother, Chris. We're the same age."

"Ah," Chloe turned to walk on towards Algebra, "my cousin."

"Excuse me?" the stranger ran to catch up.

Letting one hand drop from her books, "Chris is my cousin," she smiled.

"Oh, man. That makes me 0 for 2," he blushed again, bringing out the color of his eyes even more brightly.

Chloe laughed, "No, 1 for 3, you got my name right," she winked.

The redness disappeared from his cheeks, "I'm," he started to introduce himself while grabbing Chloe's free hand for a handshake. She never heard his name, all she could hear was a cacophony of voices, and blurs of green, gold, and violet images. When she came out of it, she was on her knees in the middle of the hall, her books in a pile in front of her, and the guy now ghostly pale. "Are you alright?"

"She'll be fine," a familiar voice came from behind her as Chloe felt herself being pulled to her feet, "I'll take those," Chris took Chloe's books from the stranger. "She's been having fainting spells… anemia, she's taking something for it. No worries. Thanks for your help. Come on, Chloe."

Chris walked Chloe to her next class, "Are you sure you're going to be ok? Maybe I should orb you home."

"I'll be fine," Chloe grabbed her books from Chris's arms, barely missing touching him.

"Chloe, calm down. Breathe," Chris reached to touch her shoulder, but she pulled away.

"Don't," tears welled in Chloe's eyes, "I've got to deal with this. Go to class. I'll see you at lunch," she turned into her classroom leaving Chris in the doorway.

"Good to see you again, Mr. Halliwell. Are you going to be joining us today, too? I've saved you your old seat," Coach Mac teased.

"No sir," Chris smiled, "I've had my fill of math. And I think I'll be missed in Chemistry. Thanks though," he left, _Chloe, be careful_, he thought as the door shut.

_I always am_, Chloe wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

Algebra flew by without incident, not counting the fact that information went in one ear and out the other. "I really hate math," Chloe muttered again walking out of the classroom, making sure her choreography insured she didn't touch anybody. She by-passed her trip to her locker, opting to miss any future confrontations with her would-be suitor, and went straight to the cafeteria.

This was her least favorite part of the day because people were everywhere. Running into someone was entirely inevitable. Bracing herself, Chloe made a straight line for the nearest table. The unavoidable happened, she tripped over a bookbag and fell into the arms of a senior football player.

"I'm going to blow-up the boys' bathrooms on the 3rd floor," he pushed her back onto her feet.

"Thanks," Chloe's eyes widened and the guy turned to walk away, "With sodium?" she asked him astounded, her flair for a fight kicking in.

He turned back to her, his eyes now wide, "What did you say to me?" he walked closer to her with malicious intent painted across his face, "I didn't say anything to you."

Chloe realized she must have heard his thoughts as she backed away from him, "I was asking Lex other there if they have any salt. You know sodium chloride? You just didn't hear my whole sentence."

Satisfied, the brute walked away. Chloe's mind raced. This big football oaf was planning to blow up the boys' bathroom using sodium stolen from the chemistry lab—that explosion could kill people! "Chris," she rushed to his table where he was eating with a few friends, "Hi" she looked around as the guys looked at her strangely. _Can we talk right now?_ She thought.

"Hey, I'll be there," he inclined his head to the adjacent table, "Be right back," he told his friends.

Chloe's heart raced, "That big boor that I just ran into is planning to blow up the boys bathroom on the 3rd floor."

"What?" Chris exclaimed, "How do you know that?"

"I ran into him," Chloe confessed.

Chris's breathing slowed, "Now, Clo, you don't have control of this power yet. How do you know it was legitimate?"

Chloe's stare hardened, and it seemed like fire lit behind her eyes, "I know what I heard. It was clear as crystal. He plans on blowing up the bathroom with sodium he stole from chemistry."

"Football player?" Chris asked.

"Yeah."

"That's Jackson Rhodes. He's in my chemistry class. And we just came from there before lunch," Chris explained.

"I'm going to tell the principal," Chloe started to storm away, but Chris held up his hand and telekinetically stopped her.

"And tell him what? I'm psychic. I ran into this guy and heard his thoughts and he's planning on blowing up the bathroom? You're crazy," Chris warned stoically.

"I'm not letting him blow up the bathroom. I'm telling the principal I overheard him talking about it. Don't stop me," she shoved him back. Chris just shook his head as Chloe bolted out of the cafeteria.

Sitting in Geography, Chloe listened to the chatty-Cathies sitting behind her, "Did you hear about Jackson? He got suspended! The principal found sodium he had stolen from a chemistry lab in his bookbag. He wouldn't admit why he had it, but he got suspended for stealing." _I guess he believed me_, Chloe sighed to herself.

After class was over Chloe packed up her things and left the room. School was over, _Thank God_, and she was on her way to Biology lab, her favorite. "Excuse me," a familiar voice came from behind her.

Chloe laughed, "You are persistent, 1 for 3. I'll give you that much. I don't know why…but you are." She turned to him with a wink, "Why are you being so persistent?"

The guy smiled. He had a beautiful smile, beautiful eyes. Chloe was flattered that this guy was trying so hard to befriend her—even if that wasn't his ultimate intention. She hadn't met many people at the new school. She had immersed herself in her school work and tried to avoid getting close to anyone. With a secret as big as her family's, she was afraid to get close to anyone. At magic school it didn't matter—everyone was magical! And everyone knew her family, the whole magical world knew her family. She had many friends and nothing to hide. But in the "real world" she had no friends and everything to hide. It made her very uncomfortable. After having lost an aunt, grandmother, and great grandmother though, it seemed worth it. Since her powers had been progressing, she was even more afraid of getting close to anyone. _You're too cute. Oh, how I want a friend._

"I wanted to apologize," he said, "I didn't know you were psychic. I never would have touched you if I had known it would hurt you."

"Excuse me?" Chloe was flabbergasted.

"I didn't know you were psychic. Even though, given Phoebe is your mom since you said Chris was your cousin, I should have considered it knowingher powers."

Chloe was speechless. She just stared at the stranger. "I don't know who you are, or what you're trying to pull. But I'm not psychic, and neither is my mom. And if you're anything else…" she let that hang, "You need to be careful. I'm running late for lab, excuse me."

"Wait," he ran after her, "I'm going about this wrong way." Chloe kept walking. "Will you stop and talk to me for a second? Please look at me," he asked. Chloe turned to look at him with agitation in her eyes. She waited thinking that if this guy tried to do anything, she would throw him into the nearest locker—either telekinetically or with a well rehearsed martial arts move. "Can I show you something? Trust me?" he motioned her towards the door. Chloe acquiesced. He pushed open the door to the flower bed that was outside in the courtyard. He placed his hand on the ground, and a rosebush grew from the ground and sprouted exquisite pink roses.

"What are you?" Chloe took a step back inside.

"Mixed," the guy smirked, "Mom's a wood nymph, dad's a witch. He raised me because my mom went back to her satyr after I was born. I didn't mean to scare you."

Chloe just stared at him in disbelief, "You said you know Chris."

"I do. I've known him since pre-school at Magic School. I started public schools when my dad married my mortal step-mom," he explained, "And before anything else happens, my name is Trey. I'd shake your hand but I don't want you to have any more painful visions."

She started to chuckle, "You're a witch," she continued to laugh.

Trey started laughing, too, "Yeah, and we're not the only ones. There's more. But you're running late and they'll be time to chat later. It was nice to meet you, Chloe."

Chloe nodded and rushed to her Biology lab.

A couple of weeks went by as Chloe began to get better control of her powers. She now could touch people without fainting, and was starting to be able to understand what was happening in the visions. She wasn't seeing the future like her mother did, she was seeing the past, and reading their thoughts. It could prove to be an invaluable power in the future.

What she hadn't noticed was the lack of Jackson Rhode's presence. She hadn't seen him around school until after school one day.

"Hey you," someone yelled at Chloe as she walked between buildings on her way to the gym. "I want to talk to you," the voice was threatening. Chloe turned around and saw Mr. Jackson Rhodes followed closely by two other guys—equally brutish. "Listen, I don't know how you knew about my little stunt…but I know it was you who told Principal Morris. And because of it, I was suspended and missed two games."

"I'm sorry," Chloe's courageous spirit welled, "but I wasn't going to let you get away with it. You could have killed somebody."

"That's not what you need to be worrying about right now," Jackson got in her face, close enough to kiss her, and looked down her shirt.

Chloe's eyes narrowed and she took a step back, "I'm leaving. And so are you. I don't think you need any more demerits on your record." She turned to leave but was blocked by the two extra thugs. She huffed, "Excuse me, guys," she started forward again, but Jackson stepped in front of her.

"Who said we were done here," he looked at her lustfully.

"I did," Chloe stood her ground, "You don't know what you're doing."

"Of course, I do. What do you think is going to happen?" he took another longing step toward her.

"I think if you get any closer to me I will have to kick your ass," Chloe warned. Jackson and the others laughed as he took another menacing step towards her, "Don't say I didn't warn you," Chloe's signature grin graced her face. She grabbed Jackson by the arm and flipped him over her shoulder plunging him into the ground on his back, knocking his breath out of him. One of the others lunged at her but Chloe blocked his punch and slung him into the wall, before turning and kicking the other guy in the stomach. "Now, from where I'm standing, you'll let me go inside, or the school will find out you got beat up by a freshman girl."

"Not if I can help it," Jackson got to his feet and pulled a knife out of his sock. The other two got behind him and cornered Chloe in an alley between the buildings. Her only way out would be revealing her powers—she didn't know what to do, _Chris, help! _She thought.

"What's going on here, guys?" it was Wyatt.

Jackson grabbed Chloe by the arm and flipped her around so that he had the knife hidden, but pointed into her back, "Nothing that concerns you, Halliwell. I have it under control."

"Oh, but you're wrong. It does concern me," there was an edge in Wyatt's voice that Chloe had never heard before, "You see," he took a step forward, "that's my cousin. And you're going to let her go."

Jackson pushed the knife further into Chloe's back, causing her to gasp and arch her back to keep it from breaking the skin, _Knife! In my back!_

"He's got a knife," Chris stepped up from behind the corner of the building, "It's going in her back," he said through gritted teeth. The other two guys stepped toward Wyatt and Chris.

"You think she kicked your ass, you haven't seen anything yet. Let her go, now," Wyatt ordered.

"Make me," Jackson laughed.

"Remember you said that," Wyatt smiled maniacally. He held up his hand and one of the guys flew into the side wall. Jackson turned with Chloe, but the knife slashed her back and she screamed.

"Chloe, get out of there," Chris ordered. Chloe spun down low and knocked Jackson off his feet, and the knife from his hand. During the confusion, she shimmered in behind Chris and Wyatt, panting in pain. Chris turned and put his arm under Chloe and lifted her to her feet.

Wyatt kicked one of the other guys hard in the stomach and sent him to the ground.

"Who are you? What are you? How'd she get over there?" Jackson backed away from Wyatt in a panic.

"I'm someone you don't want to cross, and you crossed me in a big, big way. You're going to leave my cousin alone, do you understand?" Wyatt's eyes narrowed, and the rocks on the ground began toshake as if there was an earthquake—but there wasn't. Wyatt was angry.

One of the guys had regained his composure, and without anyone's noticing had crawled to the knife. He stood up and was walking to Wyatt's back, "Wyatt, watch out!" Chloe yelled and flung her arm at the guy. An energy ball erupted from her hand and was going toward the other football player. In a split-second Wyatt had turned and exploded the energy ball in the air before it hit the would-be attacker.

Everyone stood there stunned. Chloe fell to her knees and stared at her hands. Chris's eyes searched Wyatt's. "Get her home," Wyatt commanded. Chris grabbed Chloe's shoulders and orbed her out, regardless of witnesses. Wyatt waved his hand as the three seniors and himself were instantly transported to the roof of the gym. The guys were hanging precariously over the edge of the roof line, suspended in the air, opening their mouths to scream, but no sound came out. "Listen to me," Wyatt paced, "You're going to forget everything you've seen. You're going to leave my family alone. And if you break either of those rules, you're going to have to deal with me. Understand?" They nodded. "Good," Wyatt snapped his fingers. The guys began to fall and scream, but when they opened their eyes they were standing firmly on the ground below the gym. Wyatt looked down on them and laughed before orbing home to heal Chloe.

-----

Chloe awoke covered in sweat. She ran her hand along her back, but there was no wound. She looked around the room. The suns were starting to rise, and the smell of bacon filled the house. Taking a deep breath, she rolled over and grabbed the robe Cole had laid out for her. "What was in that wine? AHH!" she screamed as she saw a huge man with long black hair standing behind the stove. He turned to her with a large knife in his hand, her mind still reeling from the dream, Chloe screamed and stumbled backwards again and into her father's arms. Cole caught her and put her back on her feet, but Chloe scrambled to stand behind him and flicked her hand sending the knife flying out of the giant's hand and into the nearest wall.

"Honey," Cole grabbed her hands and held them tight in front of him. Chloe was levitating a couple of inches of the ground, so he pulled her back down, "Sweetie," he walked her calmly towards the ogre, "Remember me telling you about Odin last night?" Chloe nodded standing in front of the at least 8 foot tall man, whose head was scraping the ceiling. "This is Odin. He will not hurt you. So let's try to keep all those wonderful powers of yours under control," Cole pulled the knife out of the wall and handed it back to Odin. Chloe stood and stared up at Odin with her jaw hanging open. Cole placed his hand on her chin and pushed, so that Chloe closed her mouth, "It's rude to stare, Clo. We taught you better than that," he mock-scolded her.

Finding her voice, "You are the biggest ogre I have ever seen," Chloe still stood before him and stared.

"Thank you," Odin's voice boomed.

"Uh-huh," Chloe nodded subconsciously.

Cole took her by the shoulders and set her down at the table. "Odin has prepared you breakfast. He's heard a lot about you and wanted to do something nice. Isn't that nice of him?" Cole took a seat next to Chloe who was continuing to watch Odin like an oddity. "You'd think you'd never seen another magical creature," Cole shook his head, "Chloe," he kicked her under the table. "Isn't it nice of him?"

"Very," she came out of her trance, "Thank you, Odin. I'm sorry I screamed when I saw you. You startled me."

"That's ok," Odin spoke, "Would you like some eggs and bacon?"

"Please," Chloe held up her plate to him.

The three of them ate in silence. When they had finished, Odin took the plates to the sink. "The last time I ate, I fell into some kind of weird sleep. You wouldn't know anything about that, dad? This food was potion-free, I'm assuming?"

Cole blushed, "Yeah, you figured me out." Chloe nodded vehemently. "Well, get dressed then come meet me outside. We'll talk about it." She didn't move. "You're here to learn more about your dreams. You needed to sleep to dream. And that's not the only reason you're here. So get dressed, and meet me outside. I'm still your father. Do as I say," he finished with a wink.

"Right," Chloe pushed her chair back, playfully punched her father in the stomach, and went to her room to change.

"Kids," Odin shook his head.

Chloe got dressed in sweat pants and an old high school t-shirt. It seemed appropriate after last night's dream. Although her world was turned upside-down when she was sixteen with the deaths of her mother and aunts, she still managed to finish high school. As bad as the world had gotten, as war-torn as society had become, life was still managing to trudge on. The battles that took place on the streets between gangs were reminiscent of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries in other countries during wartime—Russia, China, Japan, the UK, even the US—life managed to find a way to normalcy even in the chaos. Now things were getting more difficult. Many schools, worldwide, had been shut down for lack of funding and students. Parents were afraid to send their children to school because there was no guarantee they would be safe anymore. Only schools that had been safe-guarded by the gangs, by the κακό, were being used—and at heavy monetary prices. Most people didn't have that kind of money, so children weren't finishing school. Chloe was lucky.

The suns had inched up in the sky, and the light and warmth tickled Chloe's cheeks. She looked out the window to see Cole practicing his martial art forms, slowly, smoothly, rhythmically. Chloe had always been fascinated and envious of his skill. He made it look easy, like a dance. She could watch him for hours. But she knew she needed to join him if she was to learn anything.

Careful not to startle him, Chloe spoke quietly, "Where exactly are we? I feel like I'm in Wonderland."

"You are," Cole surprised her.

"I am?"

Cole lowered himself to the ground and continued stretching, "Yeah, Lewis Carroll made many trips here. Where do you think he got the ideas from?"

"Acid trips," Chloe answered under her breath.

"That, too," Cole laughed as he pushed himself into a headstand.

"Does that mean I have to fight the Jaberwocky?" Chloe asked rhetorically, at least hoping it was a rhetorical question.

"I don't think so, but if it will help you learn control. You need to learn control," Cole said to her pushing further up into a handstand as she walked up and took a seat on a mat next to him.

"I have control. It's not like I just started this yesterday," Chloe rolled her eyes.

Cole lowered himself down from the headstand and wiped his face with a towel. "Do you?" he asked. "You were levitating when you got scared of Odin earlier. I haven't seen you do that since you were four."

"So," Chloe shook her head.

"Watch your tone," Cole reprimanded. Chloe nodded. "So? There is obviously something wrong with your powers or you wouldn't be here. You would have control over your dreams. Or better, over your senses so that you could understand what the dreams mean. You have a power boast here. So if you can control them here, you'll be able to control them at home. Stand up." Chloe stood. "Ok, now close your eyes. We're going to go through a little exercise. I'm going to throw some low-voltage energy balls at you…"

"You're going to what?" Chloe exclaimed as Cole went flying backwards.

He picked himself off the ground, "You're proving my point… control…"

"Sorry," Chloe apologized.

"Right, I'm going to throw low-voltage energy balls at you. They shouldn't hurt you, especially since you can throw them, too. But I want you to duck them, dodge them, move away. No magic."

Chloe sighed, "How does it help if I can't use my powers."

Shaking his head slightly disappointed, "Chloe, what was the first thing you learned in martial arts?" Chloe nodded her head remembering, "To use your mind, to be open, and to be aware of your surroundings. We're starting at the beginning. Do you trust me?"

"Always," Chloe beamed at her father who returned the sentiment.


End file.
